Fable: Tale of a Hero
by DarkNinjaX
Summary: A young boy, one destiny...many paths.


Fable: The Lost Chapters

Hero

**Chapter I: Old Friends**

Orpheus sat down against the stone wall. His armour creaked as he hit the ground, he could feel his numerous wounds stabbing at his side. He looked down; blood was seeping from the large gash in his armour. He would shrug it off, but first he'd need to deal with the bandits heading his way. He looked to where he had just been, the corpses of the bandits lying motionless on the floor. He took no delight in killing them, but it had to be done. He'd much rather have tried to calm the situation with talk, but once they had fired upon him he had little choice but to react.

He had taken the job of defending the nearby farm only hours ago. He remembered the look of worry on the Guildmasters face when he had told him. His teachers didn't believe he was ready for something like this, but he knew different. Ever since he had left his home town of Oakvale all those years ago he knew what his true calling had to be, and nothing was going to stop him becoming stronger and more powerful. He knew he'd end it some day, but for the moment all he had to concentrate on was the bandits charging towards him, and the yells of the Bowerstone Guards that had come with him, calling for aid.

Sighing at the poor quality of their training he stood quickly and gazed at the scene before him. Two of the bandits were making their way towards the barn located to his left; if he didn't move quickly they would break in and take the boxes. He looked cautiously at the Guards trying to repel the other bandits, they would hold their own, and he had more important things to deal with. Orpheus dashed as quickly as he could across the open ground to where the barn door stood. He ducked as a bolt flew past his head and slammed into the wood behind him, that had been lucky. He gazed up to where it had come from and saw the bandit leering at him only a few metres away. That bandit must have been an awful shot Orpheus pondered. Without thinking he let a flash of Lightning arch from his left hand and saw it connect with the bandit, who promptly shuddered and collapsed, knocked unconscious from the electrical energy. 'One down' Orpheus thought.

He heard something splinter behind him, inside the barn. The bandits had smashed through the side of the building. He looked back to the combat for a second, making sure he was no longer under threat and slid inside quickly, his sword flashing in front of him. The two bandits immediately stopped and turned to face him. The one dropped one of the boxes which landed with a deep thud. Orpheus wondered what was inside, but knew better than to ask when he returned for his reward. He turned his attention back to the bandits in front of him. They both had cruel looking blades in their hands, black as the night and etched with blood red runes. Orpheus doubted that his creaky chain mail would take many of their blows; he had to make this end quickly.

The bandits charged, just as Orpheus had hoped. Quickly he let the energy build in his left hand and sent a shockwave towards the charging bandit on that side of him, the invisible wall of energy slammed into the bandit and he flew back towards the reverse of the barn, sprawling as he did so and collapsing in the hay. The second however reached him and brought his blade down towards Orpheus' head. He skilfully slid his blade into position beneath the blow and the bandit slipped as his blade slid down Orpheus's own. Orpheus took the opportunity and kicked the legs from underneath him as he tumbled, sending the bandit flat into the dirt. In one swift manoeuvre Orpheus twisted the blade in his grip and drove it hard into the bandits now exposed back. He felt the blade puncture organs and splinter bone, sending a jet of blood skywards. Resting for a second, his blade still in the bandit Orpheus looked ahead of him. The boxes were still intact, and the other bandit was out of the fight, he stirred but Orpheus knew he would be too injured to continue fighting.

Suddenly, as all seemed finished, he heard the slam of something against the wood outside. It sounded heavy, a body perhaps? Orpheus turned and raised his sword, he wasn't accustomed to being caught unawares and it wasn't going to happen now. He heard another thud and the limp form of a guard dropped in front of the open barn door, a small trickle of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth. He heard footsteps outside and a figure stepped into the doorway, looking down at the motionless form of the guardsman. Orpheus couldn't quite see right, the sun cast the person into complete silhouette, but he could tell that it was a woman.

She stepped over the body of the guardsman and Orpheus got a better look at her face. Her face was covered by a tight scarf, the top of her head bearing a metal helmet. He couldn't tell who she was, but she certainly wasn't a bandit. He squinted, walking backwards slightly so he she wouldn't be within reaches of him. She looked up and stared at him, and Orpheus detected the smallest hint of a smile as the fabric covering the lower half of her face twitched slightly.

"I would have thought you'd recognise an old friend farm boy?" She looked straight into Orpheus' eyes and fixed him with a steely stare.

It took a moment for Orpheus to register what she had just said. He paused for a moment before lowering his blade slightly and standing straight "Whisper?"

**Chapter II: The Past**

The sun filtered through the leaves onto the young boys hands. He felt the intense warmth and imagined he could stay like this for hours. He had been dreaming of something so vivid, he had been a hero like the ones had read about in the stories, fighting dragons and protecting damsels, and imagined himself winning a great battle. His father had always told him to make nothing of them, he had said to him "The greatest thing in the world son, is to not have such responsibilities…let the real heroes deal with the sadness, just enjoy the moment boy". The lad had never taken him seriously, but his father seemed so happy in his life that he couldn't see why anyone would want to leave the peace and quiet of Oakvale.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. He opened his eyes and looked up into the smiling face of his father. The man had such a kindly face, he was loved by everyone in the village and the boy could see why. He may have been a simple woodman but he was strong of mind and body and knew what was right and wrong. People trusted his opinions and knew that if all else failed they could come to him for advice. He took a seat beside the boy and laid his heavy axe on the wooden steps.

"You know it's your sisters birthday today don't you boy?" He looked off into the distance, admiring the clouds that hung over the bay down by the cliff. "I'm not bailing you out this time though, but I'll help you make some extra pocket money to buy her something. The traders in town and he's got a nice selection of sweets" He smiled again, and winked at his son who looked up beaming at his father face.

"Thanks dad" the boy said and hugged one of his huge arms tightly. He knew he shouldn't have forgotten again, but his dad always helped him out.

"Look, if you go down to the barns, I think Stephan has a job for you." The man ruffled his boy's hair and stood, taking the boys arms from his and smiling again.

The boy nodded and stood confidently, smoothing his hair as best he could and making sure he looked ok. His father had always told him to be polite and gracious to people, and if possible always look his best. He doubted he would impress many people with his ripped shorts and scruffy top, but if he was going to the barn he knew he'd probably be doing something dirty so it was best not to ruin his clothes.

His father had already gone when he looked up again, making his way back up the hill to the large house that he was helping build for a neighbour. The boy slipped his feet into his sandals and with a quick look back at his father jogged down the hill to the barns. He passed the tavern on the way; the festival was coming up for autumn and all the shops had shut early that afternoon. The tavern was filled with patrons, some the boy knew and others he hadn't seen before, they looked like traders from the large brightly coloured hats they wore. He made his way past a girl that was sobbing quietly against the wall, he would have stopped to help, but his sister's birthday came first.

He rounded the small fenced off pathway and stopped breathing heavily in the small area the locals used for storing their good and farming equipment. The barns looked bulging with the merchandise for the festival, but he had to take his eye off the boxes labelled 'food' and at the man running towards him. Stephan was a thin man, balding to the point of being nothing but skin. He had large awkward glasses that magnified his eyes to a scary proportion. The townspeople loved him though. He was a kindly man, and loved telling stories to the younger children. He had such an imagination and he thought up so many weird monsters, the older villagers couldn't stand his stories and grumbled that he was making the children too excited, but the boy loved them none the less.

"I need you to watch these crates for me lad" Stephan jumped up and down on the spot, wringing his hands desperately. "I need to"- he looked around and bent to the boys face – "Answer the call of nature…if you know what I mean" He stood and his face twisted in agony, the boy chuckled.

Without a second glance Stephan flew past him and crashed into the bushes that lined the side of the path. The boy laughed and made his way to the pile of crates that stood between the large barns. He took a seat on a large bag of grain and lay back watching the large tree in front of him sway in the breeze. But, after a few minutes something caught his eye moving behind the tree. The boy stood quickly and looked for the nearest thing that he could use, he found a small stick lying on the ground and grabbed it in two hands. He had made a promise to Stephan and he intended to keep it.

He made his way closer to the tree and brought the stick back, ready to hit the intruder. He reached round with the stick and smacked it hard on what ever was there. He heard a short sharp yelp and a small boy ran from the trees cover. He smiled and yelled at the boy as he sped off into the tree line, he had done his job, Stephan would be proud. He turned and made his way back to the sack of grain; he twisted the stick in his hands and made patterns in the air, imagining it was one of the swords he had seen the heroes using in the books. He threw it behind him and heard a yelp. He turned quickly, his face flushing with embarrassment. He had thrown the sick straight at Stephan; he was clutching his stomach bent almost double. The boy ran over and looked up at the poor mans face.

Stephan smiled weakly and pushed the glasses back up onto the bridge of his nose. He tried to speak but instead just patted the boy on the shoulder and mouthed the words 'well done'. The boy didn't know what to do, but it seemed like Stephan had seen the funny side. He smiled weakly and walked back up the path way he had come down; he just hoped his father didn't hear about that particular part of his guard duty.

As he got back to the centre of town he saw that the girl he had seen before still crying. He looked up the hill to his house and his father doing inside. He could wait a few more minutes. He walked over and sat down next to the girl, putting his arm round her. She stopped crying immediately and buried her face in his scruffy shirt.

"What's wrong?" He said quietly, he didn't want to make her cry anymore now he had stopped her.

"It's my teddy, Rosy. She's gone missing, and I don't know where to find her" She started to cry again and blew her nose on his sleeve.

"Ok" the boy said slowly. "Where did you last see her?" He looked around, it was getting quieter now. The guards were turning on the lanterns around him and one of them passed by, smiling and tipping his cap to the two children.

The girl stopped sobbing just long enough to mutter something about the top of the hill and her friend who had said he was going to take her for a walk. The boy stood and reassured her that he would get the bear back and made his way up the path to the top of the hill. He hated that place, it was always filled with bullies, but he knew he could deal with them. He felt the cold all of a sudden, the sun was dipping behind the tree line now and he couldn't help feeling he should be inside now, out of this. But he had yet again promised the girl, he couldn't really let her down could he.

As he neared the houses at the top of the hill he heard the sound of fighting ahead of him. He jogged a little faster, shrugging off the chill and made his way towards the noise. He frowned as he saw the scene in front of him. A larger boy was kicking a smaller boy on the floor, he had the teddy bear clutched close to his chest, but the bully was just kicking away, despite the boys yelps. The boy made his way over and caught the bullies' attention; he stopped kicking the younger boy and cracked his knuckles.

"Oh, you want some too do you?" He smirked and wiped the sweat from his brow.

The boy made his way closer, and pushed himself between the bully and the sprawled younger child, he wasn't letting him hurt him again. The bully was almost double his height, but he wasn't afraid.

"Look, back off kid" The bully said, spitting slightly in the boys face. "I'll pummel you if you don't" He stepped back and cracked his knuckles again. But this time the boy was ready.

He brought back his fist and slammed it forwards towards the bullies face, he decked him clean from the hit, bloodying the bullies nose and sending his crashing to the dirt. He looked down and rubbed his gloved hand, it had hurt a lot, but it had done the job. He looked behind him and motioned for the smaller boy to run. He looked back round at the bully and smirked, he didn't know if his father would be so happy about it, but he knew he had done a good thing. He turned and sprinted away, leaving the bully coughing in the dust.

As he pelted it back down past the tavern he saw the small girl with a look of delight on her face, he smiled at her as she waved and looked behind him as he heard the yells of the bully on his tail. He sped up, and smiled privately. He reached his house and darted inside, the bully had stopped and swore at him shoving two fingers up at him, but as he did so a woman came out of her house and grabbed him by his ear, yelling at him for using such rude gestures. The boy laughed, but it didn't last long, he felt his father behind him, his boots tapping on the hard wood floor. He turned and smiled weakly at his father.

"You know you shouldn't solve everything with violence?" He bent down to his son's level and smiled kindly. "Just because a bully uses violence doesn't make it a good choice. You're no better than them that way."

The boy nodded and twisted the fabric of his shirt in between his fingers. He blushed slightly, but remembered he had in the end done well.

"Well" his father said. "I know I said I'd give you some extra pocket money, but it was getting late…so I got you something to give to your sister". He reached up on the side and pulled a small box of chocolates down and handed it to his son. He smiled again and stood, soothing his back as he did and wincing. "Look, you go tell your sister happy birthday and that dinner will be ready soon, bring her back with you so we can eat." He turned and busied himself with putting his tools away in their case by the fireplace.

The boy stuffed the chocolates under his arm and rushed out of the door. He knew where his sister would be. He had found her journal that morning and read about her favourite spot in the fields near Barrowfields. He knew he shouldn't have looked, but he couldn't help himself sometimes. He made his way up the road and across the large bridge that went over the main pathway out of Oakvale. He dashed down the hill on the other side and jumped in the puddles as he neared the field gate. It was getting much darker now, but he knew they'd be safe. He heard singing ahead of him, his sister's familiar voice floating on the breeze. He hated to admit it to her, but she did have a lovely voice.

He reached the gate and pulled it open; his sister saw him and stopped her singing, smiling at her younger brother. He blushed slightly and held the chocolates in front of him.

"Oh you remembered!" She cried "I knew you'd bring me chocolates". She hugged him and planted a kiss on his cheek; he stepped back and wiped his cheek, frowning at her. She laughed and turned to the scarecrow behind her.

She took the ribbon from the box and wrapped it around the scarecrows large extended fingers. She turned and offered the now open box to her brother. "Take one, there delicious".

He stepped forwards and took one of the smaller chocolates from the box, it was her present after all, and he couldn't take the big ones. He stuffed it into his mouth, the taste was lovely. He smiled and sat down on the grassy floor.

His sister though looked panicked. He frowned and opened his mouth to speak but she got there first.

"There's something wrong" she said. "Quick get behind those bushes" She hurried him towards the overgrown part of the field and shoved him into the cover of the leaves. He didn't know what was going on, but his sister was behaving very strangely.

Suddenly however he heard a scream from the gate leading to Bowerstone. He peered out as his sister ran across to the other side of the field looking for some way out. He saw a man fall against the fence, an arrow sticking from his back. He fought back the urge to gag and looked on in fright as a burly man with a bandana round his face ran past, laughing. Three more of these men ran past, it dawned on the boy that these people must be bandits. He shoved himself deeper into the bushes, and wrapped his arms around his legs. He was so scared, his sister was out there, but he didn't know what to do to help. These men were much nastier than any bully, where were the town guard? He closed his eye and put his hands over his ears, but the screams still pierced the night. He felt tears welling in his eyes, what could he do?

It was a whole hour the boy sat there; he couldn't block the fire light from his eyes, or the screams. After what seemed like years he opened his eyes and wiped away the tears. He had to find his sister and his father, he was just glad his mother was away. He pushed his way from the bushes and crawled to the edge of the field. He peered over the gate; the whole of Oakvale seemed to be on fire. He felt worry spread through him, and he stood quickly. He ran through the gate and turned to go into the centre of town. A large stack of overturned carts now blocked his way, burning fiercely. He felt himself starting to cry again, but shook it from his mind and made his way back so he could cross the bridge.

Bodies littered the way, some still moving, blood seeping from their wounds; others too burnt or maimed to tell who they were. He felt both anger and a temptation to be sick flow through him, the smell of burning flesh stung his eyes and nostrils. He covered his mouth with his hand and made his way across the bridge, towards his house. He hoped that the girl was alright, it had all happened so quickly. But, that feeling soon disappeared when he reached the top of the hill looking down to his small house. His father lay there, motionless, his axe by his side. He ran down the hill and tripped as he did so, he didn't care, he stood and a rushed forwards. He stopped a few metres from his father's body and walked slowly forwards, the tears streaming down his face. His father's eyes were closed tight, and blood seeped from a wound in his stomach. He knelt down and grabbed his fathers hand, it was cold. He let do of himself and the boy cried hard into his father's sleeve, he could feel his world falling apart around him.

He was too emotional to notice, but as he hugged his fathers arm, footsteps came towards him from ahead. He looked up at the last second, the tears blurring his vision, but the form of a large bandit still loomed over him. He scrambled backwards, grabbing his father s axe and trying to lift it, but it was just too heavy. The bandit came closer, his sword twisting in his grip, the boy wished he could fight like the heroes he had seen in the books, avenge his fathers death. He yelled at the top of his voice, his throat hurting as he did so, and tried with all his might to lift the axe. The bandit laughed and raised his sword, the boy closed his eyes.

All he heard was a rumble of thunder, and the smell of searing flesh he had smelt before filled the air. He heard movement again and opened an eye; the bandit was dead, slumped on the floor, something crackling along his body. The boy looked up, and saw someone else walking towards him, but this man was unlike any the boy had seen before. His face was dark, his hair pulled back from his face and spiked behind him. His eyes were a pale blue, and shone brightly in the red light of the flames. He was garbed in purple; a long coat that stretched down across his entire body, adorned with patterns and runes, this must be a hero he thought. He walked closer and examined the boy up and down, before kneeling and checking the neck of his father. The boy had a sudden urge to get him off him, but he knew better.

The man sighed looked at the young boy in front of him. He smiled slightly and walked towards the boy, who recoiled slightly. "Don't mind me boy, I saved your life, if it wasn't for me you'd be burning with the rest of them." He looked around and at the boy's teary face, and regretted his choice of words.

He reached out and hand and grabbed the boys arm. The lad struggled in his grip, but he knew it was for the best. "Your coming with me boy, somewhere you can be safe. Its not smart to stay around here".

The boy wanted to shout, but his voice just wouldn't come, he felt like he was leaving his father here to the mercy of the bandits, but before he could complain an eerie blue mist enveloped them both and with a quick snap they were gone. The last thing the boy saw of his home was the fire licking the sides of his house, and his father's body, motionless, after that, it was gone.

**Chapter III – The Guild**

The Guildmaster sat back in his old oaken chair. He felt it creak with the age; it was probably almost as old as he was. He pondered the letter Maze had penned for him. The boy had seemed almost resistant to join the Guild, but Maze knew what he was doing. He had doubted the boy's skills at first, but after a word with Maze he knew that he was what they were looking for. He took a second to relax, looking around his small room on the second floor of the Guild. Huge bookcases lined the walls, groaning with the weight of what must have been over a thousand volumes; he had stopped counting after two hundred. He looked down again at the note and stroked his small moustache. He didn't know what to make of it really, but he'd have to see how far the boy got with the trials.

"Come in" He said loudly, grabbing the papers and sliding them into a drawer beneath the top of his desk. The door at the other end of the room opened and a small girl, dressed in her apprentice robes walked in, closing the door behind her. "Take a seat" The Guildmaster said and smiled calmly at her.

She took his offer and sat in one of the plush armchairs that sat before his desk. "What is it you wanted to see me about sir?" She had dark skin, and almond eyes. Her hair was tied back tightly, she reminded the Guildmaster so much of her brother.

"Well Whisper, you do know that we have a new young apprentice with us?" He leaned forwards and clasped his hands in front of him.

"Yes" She replied. She didn't seem too happy about this. The Guildmaster knew that she liked the attention of being the newest apprentice, but it would have to fade sometime.

"Well" He said "I would like you to help him through his first few days if you will." The Guildmaster relaxed again, sitting back in his chair. "He has had an unfortunate time of things of late and we need someone to look after him."

Whisper sighed "But sir…" She seemed like she was going to start one of her tantrums again.

"No buts Whisper. He needs someone to learn from and you will be an ideal choice since you are just at the beginning of your training too." He smiled again.

"Ok" she said, almost grudgingly. She stood and scuffed her feet on his rug. "May I go now sir?"

The Guildmaster nodded and motioned that she could leave. He sat back and watched her slouch away towards the door and slowly walk out. He thought they could both do with a helping hand. The boy needed a friend and she needed someone similar to her. They both seemed headstrong, Whisper more than the boy, but he could see no problems with them working together. He made a mental note to forget his apple pie from the cook that afternoon and slide the papers of the boy back onto his desk. He thumbed through the pages until he found what he was looking for, the entry Maze had made about the boys name. He looked closely, reaching for his glasses to get a better look. Maze had such small handwriting it was hard to tell which words were which.

He found it eventually.

_The boy refuses to tell me his name, but I got it out of him eventually. Ever since I rescued him from Oakvale he was seemed very hostile towards me, believing that we left his father behind to die in that ruined town. I dare not tell him of the horrors of the rest of that town, but it shall all be revealed to him soon. He told me his name one day when I was showing him the Demon Door down by the lake. He seemed to remember something in his mind and enjoyed the stepping stones. He relaxed enough to tell me a little about himself. He seems like a strong child Master and we should watch him carefully. I digress…he told me of his name. It is Orpheus. I found that highly unusual, especially for one from such a town as Oakvale. I believe there is more to his history than meets the eye. We all remember his mother well…me more th…_

He stopped reading and took his glasses from his nose. He had read enough. 'Orpheus' he thought, it was indeed a strange name. He stood and walked to the bookshelves that lined the right hand side of his room. He found what he was looking for, a leather bound book that weighed a considerable amount. He hefted it to his desk and let it slam down on the wood. A cloud of dust clouded in front of his face and he coughed loudly. He waved away the dust and looked down at the gilded title. It shone back at him, as good as new. 'The Guild Records' gleamed back at him. He thumbed the giant pages and leafed through until he found what he was looking for. He opened the book fully and sat back down to read it properly.

He found the entry, it was faded with age but he knew it well. He gazed down at the picture of a woman, robed in red. He smiled as he remembered her when she was just a young student here at the Guild. She had been as highly strung as Orpheus now seemed to be. It was good that not just her power had passed on to him, but something more human too. They looked very much alike, but he knew that the boy's sister was a lot more like her and a lot more powerful too. They had sent a band of heroes to try and find her in the village, but there was no sign of her in what was left.

He sighed and closed the book, another cloud of dust rising into the air. He coughed again and chuckled. He would keep a special eye on this Orpheus as he spent time with them.

Whisper rolled over in her bed, the boy Orpheus was laying across the room from her snoring loudly. She pulled the pillows over her ears and tried to drown out the noise. She wasn't used to waking up this early, and she didn't like noise. Grumbling she swung herself from under the covers and dressed quickly. Her apprentice robes were slung over the end of the bed; she pulled them on and messed with the hood. She always like it down and didn't understand why all the apprentices wore their up, it seemed to make things too secretive for her liking.

She sighed again, she really didn't want to be lumbered with this layabout, but she had to do as she was told. She walked over and shook him awake. Orpheus stirred and rolled over, a glazed look in his eyes. She rolled her eyes, nothing like an eager hero.

"The Guildmaster wants us down by the fighting ring in a few minutes farm boy" She turned and walked away "Make sure you get down in time and look presentable." She left through the wooden door down the end of the room, closing it behind her.

Orpheus turned over and fell out of bed, landing hard on the stone floor. He rubbed his sore bottom and adjusted his eyes to the room. It looked like it had everyday for the past few weeks, except now he had a roommate. Whisper seemed nice enough, he'd just never shared with a girl before, and it wasn't like with his sister. He pushed that thought aside; he didn't want to think about that. He looked to the end of his bed and a set of clothes that had been lain out for him. He had refused to wear them at first, but now he thought he might give them a try.

It took him a while to adjust the straps on the arms, but after a few minutes he felt like it fitted right. He pulled the hood up over his head and let it hang over his face, he felt like a proper hero, even if he was still young. He found that the suit had a slit in the back, for a weapon. He didn't know if he'd get one, but it seemed like this place would give him one eventually. He just wanted to know what it would be. He shrugged his shoulders and let the hood bounce up and down for a while, it was the first private fun he had had in a long time. Maze had showed him around a few days ago but he hadn't really paid things much attention.

He wandered out of his room and down past the entrance hall. The large map table stood in the centre, all of Albion lain out before him. He had looked for Oakvale when he first saw it, and thought what it must be like now, a month after the fire and the raid. He had asked Maze, but he had not told him. He made his way through the large dining hall, it was empty save the old barman who smiled and winked at him as he ran quickly out into the morning sun. He was always amazed at how early the Apprentices rose, they were already outside training with each other, and the air was a flurry of arrows, swords and spells. Some were fantastic to watch, great pillars of fire rising from the ground and arches of lightning stretching across the sky. He had always wanted to do those things but Maze had pulled him away as he got more interested.

He caught a glimpse of the Guildmaster and Whisper waiting down by a small walled area, a dummy stood in the centre painted with red targets. He was actually going to get to fight! He sped up and jogged down to the pen, his large hood flopping off his head and revealing his messy hair.

"Nice of you to join us Orpheus" The Guildmaster looked at him and laughed. "Still having trouble getting out of bed I see…but at least you changed your clothes". He gave a look of mild humour at his outfit and then turned his attention back to the matter at hand.

Orpheus couldn't help noticing the look Whisper gave him, highly disapproving. She examined his hair and rolled her eyes like she had before. Orpheus shot a scowl at her and concentrated back on the Guildmaster who had started talking without them.

"Right, Whisper has already done this part of her training, but I instructed her to come and help you if needs be." He reached down besides the wall of the pen and picked up a stick. "Now, Orpheus I want you to take this and see if you can land some good hits on that dummy, as hard as you can." He handed the stick to Orpheus and opened the gate.

Orpheus grimaced. He thought he'd be getting a sword, but this was useless. Still, he had to do what he was told. He moved into the ring and felt his grip on the stick in his hand. It felt good; he knew how to use it.

"Now…give the dummy a good whack" Shouted the Guildmaster.

Orpheus sighed, this was useless. He pulled back the stick and jumped to hit the chest of the dummy. To his surprise his hit was powerful, it smashed the dummy clean in two and a cloud of hay filled the air. He turned and felt quite ecstatic, the Guildmaster seemed pleased as well.

"It took you three attempts to do that didn't its Whisper" He said casually, she smiled falsely and glared at Orpheus. "But anyway" He said, looking at Whisper. "Maze need to see you now my lad, in his tower." He looked at the young boy standing before him. "And you can keep the stick." He winked and beckoned for Whisper to follow him to the archery range.

Orpheus stood there for a minute, taking in what he had just done. He hadn't been here long and he could already do better than Whisper. He smiled inside, but he knew he shouldn't get ahead of himself. His father had always taught him that he should never get too caught up in his own abilities. Just because you were better at something than someone else didn't mean you should boast about it. Before he knew what he was doing he was out of the gate and across the bridge again, looking towards Maze's tower at the edge of the Guild. It stood tall and majestic against the skyline, very few were permitted to enter and since he had been here he had only seen angry looking Apprentices leaving those large oaken doors. He wandered closer, twisting the stick around in his grip and swiping at the bushes as he did, sending a flock of sparrows rushing out across the grounds.

He heard a yelp behind him and saw one of the teachers waving his arms madly in the direction of the birds and swearing loudly, Orpheus laughed. He saw too other Apprentices standing by the wall of Maze's tower deep in heated conversation. As he went to open the door he caught a snippet of what they were saying.

"I bet I'm faster than you" The larger one said, pointing out across the grounds to the Demon Door. "I did it in thirty seconds flat yesterday".

"No you didn't" The other replied. "You cheated!"

The first man faked a look of mild shock. "How dare you accuse me of cheating?" He stood straighter.

"But you did!" The other said. "You used your rush spell to make it back over the bridge in time!" The two walked off, deep in conversation pointing fingers at each other accusingly.

Orpheus laughed at the two men; everyone seemed to be trying to outdo each other, even Whisper. He knew she was kind, but she didn't like to show it. She had not talked to him for days when they moved in to the same dormitory, and today had been the first time she had engaged him in conversation. He always thought she looked down on him slightly, and he hated the nickname she had given him. Still, he would show her he was better, it was only a matter of time.

He made his way up the winding staircase just inside of the large oaken doors. The walls were lined with paintings, epic battles and scenes from all over Albion. Orpheus loved the snowy pictures of a place that Maze had called Snowspire, it looked like such a mystical place. He was nearing the top when he heard voices coming from Maze's study. He slowed and hugged the wall, he knew he shouldn't, but the temptation was too great. The voice of Maze was unmistakable, but the other person's voice was very different, and Orpheus had never heard it before. He crept closer and almost froze when he saw the person Maze was talking too.

The man, if you could call him so, was garbed in bright blue. His robes were bound tightly to his form, which was skeletal at the most. His skin too looked like it had aged considerably. It was dark grey, and wrapped in places with numerous bandages. As well as his appearance he also carried a cruel looking scythe in his right hand, it looked old and worn, but something about it crackled with energy. This man had to be a hero Orpheus thought, but on whose side was he?

Maze spoke slowly and deliberately "So, you've decided?" He was leaning against the fireplace, looking deep into the embers.

"Yes my friend. The Northern Wastes have too long stood unprotected. I should heard there at once and prepare for every eventuality." The man didn't move a muscle; he seemed resolute in what ever decision he had made.

"But what if we need you here Scythe. There are things on the horizon that we cannot foresee. I fear we are in grave danger." Maze seemed a little on edge. Orpheus had never seen him like this, at least in his few weeks here at the Guild.

"You are protected Maze, the Guild is safe for the moment. But I must attend to other business. You must understand the importance of the Oracle." The man Orpheus now knew as Scythe pulled something from his pocket and rubbed it in his left hand.

"Needs must I suppose" muttered Maze. "I hope all goes well for you old friend". He looked up and nodded to Scythe.

"May death close his eyes to you Maze." The same blue haze filled the air that Orpheus had felt when they had left Oakvale and in a matter of moments the man had disappeared.

"Come closer"

Orpheus was taken aback, he had no idea that Maze had known he was there. He stepped slowly onto the landing of Maze's office and smiled weakly. He didn't know whether he would be in trouble or not. Maybe the Guildmaster had wanted him to see this Scythe character.

"Well, now you've met Scythe." Maze stood straight and held his hands in front of him, looking down at the young boy. Orpheus opened his mouth to speak but Maze cut across him.

"He was a mighty hero once, and still is. We could use more people like him, especially now".

Orpheus didn't know what to do, it seemed like an awkward moment to him. He spoke very quietly "The Guildmaster said I should see you sir?"

Maze stood for a moment and then remembered what he was meant to give the boy. He turned and walked to his desk, searching for something within the drawers. He found it, and clasped it in his hands.

"This boy" He said, coming closer and bending down to his level "Is something I found in your parents house on that…night" He opened his hand and showed Orpheus a small locket. "I believe it belong to your mother or your sister?"

Orpheus found himself overcome with emotion. He knew that locket; it had indeed belonged to his sister. It was the present his mother had given to her two years ago. He took it and stuffed it into his pocket, wiping his eyes with his sleeve.

Maze stood straight again and moved back behind his desk, sitting himself in his large armchair. "Keep it with you boy".

Suddenly out of nowhere an arrow crashed through the window behind Maze and thudded into the bookcase to his right. Orpheus jumped, but Maze only seemed to fume with anger. "HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD THEM NOT TO AIM SO HIGH?" He stood furiously and rushed past Orpheus shouting to him as he went. "Get some sleep boy; your real training will begin tomorrow!"

Orpheus was slightly taken aback, it had all happened so fast he had forgotten about the locket in his pocket and that awkward moment. He thought about what Maze had just said, his real training was going to begin tomorrow, he was actually going to become a hero. He smiled; maybe he would be able to find out what had happened after all.

**Chapter IV: Alliance**

Maze's boots crunched on the gravel as he passed through the rusty iron gates that barred entry to the graveyard of Lychfield. He hated this place and he had no idea why he had to meet here of all places. The dead had been restless for many years now, ever since Nostro's spirit had been disturbed from his slumber. However, tonight the dead slept peacefully, and Maze knew why. His master had seen to things, they would not be disturbed tonight. He cast an eye back towards the house located just to the side of the entrance, a lamp light flickered but the grave keeper was asleep, he could see his form rising and falling in his bed through the window.

Maze pushed on, looking around at the gravestones that lined the path way. They were all faded and un-readable but occasionally he could pick out a name or an ode beneath the moss. These graves were decade's old, maybe even more so than that. No-one however had been buried here for a long time, due to the unfortunate incident of a funeral party only a few years ago when the person being buried had smashed from his coffin and killed two of his relatives before being taken down my passing guards. Maze walked on, his master would be waiting and he didn't want to disappoint. Actually, he thought, it wasn't that. He knew that Jack had a stronger hold over him and even if he wanted to, he wasn't going to be able to get out of this now. He didn't have to wait long.

Out of the shadows a man dressed in red, wearing a large hood and an ornate set of armour stepped forwards and leant against a large mausoleum. It seemed ironic that Jack was leaning against a statue of a proud warrior so casually, but humour aside he had more important business to attend to.

"You are late Maze" whispered Jack. His voice was hollow and resonated loudly. Maze looked to his face and saw his mask, covered in small patterns and twirls. How something so ornate could hold something so evil he didn't know.

"It was unavoidable Jack; the Guildmaster had me check the boy again today. I did my best to get here as quickly as possible". He looked down at the ground, no-one made Maze frightened, but Jack was something else.

"I see, and how is our little…survivor?" Jack walked towards him took his cleaver from his belt, twirling it in the soil.

"He is fine, but he does not have enough power to harvest yet. We will have to wait many more years for him to be ready." Maze glanced up at Jack, his eyes blazed red in the circles of his mask, yellow pupils glaring back at him.

"That is acceptable. We have the mother, so all is not lost." Jack said these things in a voice that seemed to fain disinterest but Maze knew better than that.

"And what of the girl?" Maze felt more confident now, the glare of Jack had gone from his face and was concentrated on his cleaver.

"She is…safe" Jack muttered. "I believe she is in the care of a one Twinblade." Jack yet again paid little attention to the look of shock on Maze's face.

"Bandits? But master we need her alive for the ritual" Maze didn't see how a small girl would last at all with those bandit scum, who were more than likely to cut her to shreds when they had had their fun.

"It is ok; she has a gift that Twinblade will need." Jack twirled the blade again. "He will not let her go easily."

Maze highly doubted that, but no-one doubted Jack. He remembered when they had fought together all those years ago, Jack had been so different then, none of this hate and malice. The masks had changed that though.

"Maze, I wish you to train the boy well. I don't want to find that when he matures he was little to no power in his body." Jack finished twirling the cleaver and slid it back into his belt. "You will keep your end of the bargain my old friend and in turn I will reward you when the time comes."

Maze shuffled uncomfortably. "Jack, do you really think that the bloodline will be as powerful now?"

Jack laughed hollowly "Yes Maze, very much so. After all they are a family of incredible power…despite the father they are very much what I need".

Maze nodded and began to speak but Jack cut across him.

"It would not be good for us to be seen together Maze. I suggest you deal with the person hiding behind the gravestone over there on your way out" Jack turned and walked back into the shadow. A red glow hummed around him and he disappeared, his cleaver the last thing to go.

Maze turned quickly and walked to the gravestone Jack had indicated, reaching behind and pulling the eve's dropper from their hiding place and dropping them in the dirt. Maze had expected a man, but to his shock it was a woman that hid behind the gravestone. "What are you doing here?" Maze growled.

"Nothing sir…ju…just…" She couldn't speak she was so scared. She held her hands up and covered her face.

Maze clenched his fist and felt the energy build up in his hand, it crackled with raw power and he felt the hairs stand up on the back of his neck, but, he couldn't do it. He relaxed and the power drained. He grabbed the woman under her arm and lifted her to her feet. "Look, you need to leave, and say nothing of this to anyone. If he knew he'd be a lot less compassionate than I".

The woman nodded through the tears and turned to run, Maze held his grip. "You understand completely the seriousness of this?"

She nodded again. And started saying prayers to Avo under her breath,

Maze sighed. "Look where do you live?" He turned the woman's head to face his and brushed the hair from in front of it. He hadn't noticed before, but she looked so much like his late wife it was uncanny. He froze for a second, not hearing her voice.

"Did you hear?" She said again "Bowerstone slums". She sniffed; the tears had gone from her eyes now.

Maze shook himself and concentrated once more, blotting the last thought from his mind. He reached into his pocket and pulled the small medallion from his pocket. It shone brightly for a second before he and her disappeared in a blue mist.

Jack looked out from behind the Mausoleum and beneath his mask frowned. Maze was too much of a liability; he would have to be dealt with, eventually.

Back at the Guild Maze slumped into his chair and sighed heavily, reaching down and pulling his old leather bound journal from the desk. He opened it and chose a quill from the jar next to him, a large raven feather, it was jet black. He searched for his ink and dipped the tip into it. He paused for a second before writing. He didn't know whether this would help, but he knew Jack, he wouldn't share his power. Hopefully this message would help the others if the time came, but Maze hoped it would not.

He finished and ripped the page from his journal. He folded it carefully and stood, walking to the bookcase above the fire. He looked for the right book and slid the note in between its pages. He sighed and closed his eyes, letting the warmth wash over him from the fireplace. He saw his wife's face in his mind and closed them tighter, he knew she would not like what he was doing, but it was not a matter of right and wrong, only survival. He clenched his fist and punched the wall. He had to keep his feelings wrapped up tight, it would compromise him otherwise. He opened his eyes and let the real world flood back into his mind, he would have to check on the boy.

He turned and walked to the staircase, looking back to make sure that the note had been placed he walked down them and out of the oaken doors. In a matter of minutes he was in the dormitories. He slowly pushed the door to Orpheus's room open and peered through the door. The boy was sleeping, he had grown considerably in his time here, and he looked no more like a child and more of a young adult. Orpheus had excelled in his tests and was an excellent student, little did he know of the path lain out for him. Maze cast a glance to the girl who slept across from him. Whisper too had excelled, but no where near the skills of the boy. He had a feeling that the two children's path would cross again at some point in their future.

Maze closed the door as silently as he had opened it and turned to face the empty corridors. He knew what he was doing was wrong, but it had to be done. He made his way to the library; at least for now he could take solace in the reading of his favourite book, a luxury he would not have again for a long time. It was a long way off, but Jacks plan would be completed eventually, he just hoped secretly that the boy could prove the prophecy wrong and change the path of fate; it was all on his young shoulders.

**Chapter V: Growing Up**

Orpheus felt the sword grip in his hand; the leather was a comfortable feeling now. His weapon had become an extension of his arm now, it moved with such fluid motion that all he had to do was imagine what he wanted to do and it did it. He turned to look through the arch way to the Guild woods; Whisper was taking a long time. He turned his attention back to his apprentice suit and straightened the sleeves. Maze always hated it when Apprentice's messed with their uniforms so he decided it would set a good first impression if he looked smart. He looked at his reflection in his swords shimmering surface and pushed his un-tidy hair from his eyes.

He could see a change in himself. He no longer looked so innocent. He would be eighteen in a few weeks and it showed. His once soft features had hardened and he looked more like a warrior now. He turned his head to the left and examined the scar across his left eye. He touched it with a gloved hand and remembered the moment he had got it. It had been a few years ago now, but he could still remember the moment when he had been slashed by a fellow Apprentices sword and had failed to block in time. It had nearly taken his eye out, but the healer had managed to save it. He had never made a mistake like that again. He sighed and turned back to the archway just as a young woman walked through it, staff on her shoulder and limping slightly. She looked a little worse for wear.

She scowled at him and clutched her side as she approached. "It's not that easy" She said matter of factly. "Watch out for Maze's magic" She showed him her arm and the bright red burn on it.

"I imagine I'll be dodging that" Orpheus said, and smiled. Whisper looked thoroughly annoyed with him.

"I passed anyway" She said, covering the burn. "We'll wait and see before you start bragging". She turned and walked down the hill, still limping slightly,

Orpheus' smile faded. He might have seemed like it, but he didn't want Whisper hurt. He had known her for a long time and they had built up a healthy relationship, one that was based on rivalry, but a relationship none the less. Putting the thoughts to the back of his mind he turned and sword in hand, walked through the archway and to the Guild woods at the top of the hill.

It wasn't long before he reached the area of the exam. He stood quietly waiting for Maze. He looked around for a second; he remembered this place so well. His first quest had been here, ridding the beetles from their burrow here, and not so long ago he had helped Whisper take out a troupe of bandits that had made camp near the ruins across the pond. It had been most satisfying, especially to him to deal with those bandits, even if he had been told off by the Guildmaster afterwards for putting them both in needless danger. Still, he thought, it had been worth it.

Within a matter of seconds a blue mist descended nearby and Maze faded into view. He stood there, in his full battle armour, staff in hand crackling with energy. He looked more fearsome than Orpheus had ever seen him, but he knew Maze would hold back. Maze stepped forwards and stood before him.

"Are you ready Orpheus?" With his free hand he conjured a small ball of energy and let it hover before him.

Orpheus nodded and readied his sword. He was prepared for anything that Maze could throw at him.

"Ok, then we will begin. I want you to attack me with as much power as you can muster." Maze stepped away from him until they were about ten feet apart and held his staff in front of him, conjuring a shimmering blue filed around his form. Orpheus had never seen this spell before.

Concentrating again Orpheus twirled his sword and charged; he leapt at Maze and brought his sword down on his shoulder area. Maze didn't block, and as the sword connected a surge of energy shot along the weapon and flung him back through the air. He landed, crumpled on the floor, clutching his arm. He looked up at Maze and saw the shield around him flicker and then recharge. Orpheus struggled to his feet and flexed his arm again, the sword smoked slightly.

"You cannot just attack with your sword boy; you must develop new ways of fighting your enemies." Maze twirled his staff and let a blast of energy fly his way, rippling the ground as it tore towards him.

Orpheus rolled out of the way just in time to see the blast smash the tree trunk behind him into a million pieces, showering him with wood and dirt. He stood awkwardly and prepared himself again. If Maze wanted him to try something different, see how he dealt with this. Maze stood before him, motionless waiting. Orpheus summoned all his energy and forced himself forwards, he felt time slow slightly as he dashed forwards and knew it had worked, he slipped behind Maze and put his hand against his teacher back. Maze was moving slower than him, but only for a second. Orpheus let a bolt of energy discharge in his hand and he saw the field of energy dissipate around Mazes' body. The shield had been destroyed, for now.

He had not, however, took into account Maze's staff and in the moment where he felt smug he felt a large knock against his head and he stumbled backwards, an aching lump now on the top of his head. He clutched it and winched.

"Good" Maze said and turned to face Orpheus. "You combined your magical powers to take down my physical shield. That was indeed a novel idea, but you again forgot your opponents other weapons" He let the power fade from around his staff and he returned to normal, drawing a sword from his belt and attaching his staff to his back. "Now, try and best me with your sword".

Orpheus smiled through the pain; he was good with his sword, better than anyone in the Guild. He entered a fighting stance and brought his sword forwards, striking a Maze. The two weapons clashed, sparks flying through the air, Maze blocked every attack, but Orpheus knew he was having trouble. He smirked and pushed the attack. But, he did so too soon, again his eagerness had got the better of him. Maze slipped to the side of him in the second that he took to bring down his strike and tripped him, sending him crashing to the floor. He cursed as he fell.

Maze laughed "You have done well boy." He reached down and grabbed his arm, lifting him to his feet with no effort at all. "I would be delighted to pass you, your exam is over".

Orpheus winced again through the pain "But sir, I failed three times." He didn't understand how he could have passed.

"It is not that boy; you could not have bested me." He sheathed his sword and pulled his Guild seal from his pocket. "You have a lot of potential and understand why you have failed. The only way you will learn is by trying again and again and you have that within you". He started to fade in his blue haze. "You should return to your quarters and rest, the graduation will be tomorrow". He disappeared from view, leaving Orpheus alone in the woods.

Orpheus winced again and felt the bruise on his head. He smiled at the thought of graduating, and walked back down the path to the Guild, he would have to tell Whisper what had happened.

Orpheus pushed open the door to his dormitory and walked in, rubbing his head. Whisper was sat on her bed reading a book and looked up as he came in and smirked.

"So, you didn't manage to dodge all of Maze's attacks then" She smiled and closed the book. "Did you pass?"

Orpheus nodded, but realised that made his head hurt. "Yes" He said instead, trying to ignore the pain in his side from the fall. He made for his bed, but Whisper had stood between him and it.

"Well done" She said and held out a hand. She didn't look like Orpheus had seen her before; she actually looked pleased for him. "Well, are you going to shake it?"

Orpheus hesitated and took her hand, shaking it and smiling back at her. "Graduations tomorrow, are you prepared?"

She let go of his hand and sat back on the bed, pushing the book under her pillow. "Indeed, my brother will be coming to take me to Oakvale after the ceremony; he has a place he uses when he is fighting in the arena"

Orpheus remembered her brother well, who could forget him. He had been over twice his size when they had met. He was a towering giant of a man, clad in complete armour with a look of pure strength on his face. He had dismissed Orpheus at first, especially since he had just beaten Whisper in training, and almost flat out insulted him in front of the rest of the trainees. But Orpheus didn't care; he knew that all that mattered was what he thought of himself.

"Well, we should probably get some rest" He said, easing himself on to his bed and propping his sword against the wall. "Don't want to miss out on things tomorrow."

Whisper nodded. "Your right, I'm going to the library first to drop off my books." She stood and smiled. "I'm glad we both passed our exams." She walked out, books in hand and closed the door behind her.

Orpheus lay back and closed his eyes, he dreamt of the hero he had seen himself as all those years ago, and knew that for now at least, it was a possibility. He felt himself drift off into sleep, for now things were good.

Orpheus opened his eyes; the cold of the Chamber of Fate was chilling him to the bone. He looked around him at the Apprentices that had gathered for the occasion. Everyone had turned out; twenty of them would be getting their Guild seals today and becoming heroes for hire in the world of Albion. He and Whisper stood next to each other in the line of heroes that waited for the Guildmaster and Maze to speak to them. They stood in the middle of the chamber, the Guildmaster was flanked on either side by Maze and Thunder wearing his battle helm for the occasion, looking like a stone sentinel.

He looked down the line and saw the Apprentices receiving their seals to applause from the crowd behind them, four more and it would be at him. He felt an uneasy feeling in his body; he had never felt so proud and scared in all his life. He knew the Guild would be his home for ever, but going out into the real world was something he didn't look forwards too, especially when it came to going home to Oakvale. He had heard from the traders that came every week that it was back to normal after all these years, but it would never be what he had known as a child.

The Guildmaster came closer, only two more to go. He looked to his right and saw Whisper, her eyes closed and standing stock still, she must be as nervous as he was. One more to go, Orpheus looked back to his left and saw the Apprentice take the seal with shaking hands and turn to walk back into the crowd behind him. It was his turn.

"Orpheus" The Guildmaster said. "How are you feeling today?" He smiled kindly and held the seal before him.

"I'm good sir" Orpheus forced a smile and stood straighter. He held out his left hand as he had learned to do and waited for the seal.

"You will now go out into the world to do both your work and your life hero. Take this seal and become the hero you were meant to be, and remember there will always be a home for you here" The Guildmaster seemed to stress the 'always' as if it held more meaning to Orpheus.

Orpheus took the seal and felt its weight. It was more amazing than he had ever imagined the two symbols of the Guild wound together and set in gold. He looked up into the Guildmasters face and nodded. He was going to do what he could to help people now. The Guildmaster nodded and gestured that he could leave. Orpheus took a look back at Whisper and the others and turned, and was immediately met with the chorus of applause from the other Apprentices. He blushed and walked down into the midst of them all, taking his place. He dropped the seal into his pocket and ran his fingers over it, the whole room faded from his sense, all he thought about was revenge, for the first time in years he knew he could finally find his families killers and bring them to justice. He closed his eyes and felt the feeling course through his body, he knew it was wrong, but he would make them pay.

The next day he and the others got ready to leave the Guild. Whisper had already gone after the ceremony with Thunder without saying goodbye. He didn't know whether or not it mattered to him. He had been in a haze all day, as he had changed into his normal clothes he had realised he time had passed so quickly, all he could think about was the feeling he had had the day before, such untamed anger coursing through his body. He knew he would have to keep it in check. He stuffed his clothes into a large leather sack and slung it over his shoulder, strapped the sword to his side and ruffled his hair. He would have to get it cut when he got out.

Orpheus walked down the stairs to the entrance lobby, seeing below him two other heroes leaving through the Cullis gate that was now shining brightly. He had never seen it activated before. The Guildmaster stood by the door and turned to greet him as he walked towards the entrance.

"Good to see you boy." He said, looking him up and down and admiring the clothes. "You'll fit in just fine lad". He held out and hand and shook Orpheus's.

"Thank you sir, is Oakvale far from here?" Orpheus knew that would be his first port of call.

"Not too far lad, but you would do well to visit Bowerstone first. You'll need tougher armour to get your way through Darkwood." The Guildmaster let go of his hand and stepped to the side, gesturing to the large oaken doors ahead of him. "Your adventure awaits my lad".

Orpheus smiled and felt a wave of emotion. He looked back at the Guild he had spent so much time with. The walls seemed safe, and now the prospect of leaving was both exciting and sickening. For the first time, he would be out there on his own. He turned and nodded to the Guildmaster, and stepped forwards, grabbing the large Iron rings on the doors handle, and heaved the door open. Sunlight washed over him and the sounds of the world hit his senses, he was all grown up now.

Maze stood at the top of the stairs and looked down as Orpheus walked through the door and closed it behind him. It had only just begun for the lad, and Maze felt that he should have told him what to expect, but that was not possible. He looked down at the Guildmaster; all of them would not survive the coming age, even him.

**Chapter VI: Teresa**

A young woman stepped out from the leather tent and yawned loudly. The sunlight warmed her skin and made it tingle after being in the shade for so long. She looked like she'd been sleeping rough, almost more tramp like than anything else. She was dressed in modest clothes and had a large clothe across her eyes, which bore on it an eye embroidered in gold. The woman was blind, and yet you would not know it unless she told you. She turned and walked to the small pond located near the large tavern area. She bent down and took a bucket from besides her. Slowly she dipped it into the water until it was full and with some effort brought it up held it in two hands.

She struggled for a second nearly dropping the bucket, but she regained her balance and walked to another set of tents across from the one she had left. They were arranged in a haphazard fashion, but were all centred on a large fire that burned brightly in the centre even now. She walked to the larger of the tents and pushed the awning back, venturing inside.

The inside of the tent was stuffy, and filled with the sounds of moans and coughing. Men, obviously bandits by their look and apparel were laid on around a dozen mats, nursing wounds and other maladies. The woman walked to the nearest and took a sponge from the floor. She dipped it into the water and wrung it out, wetting his head until he relaxed again, it was likely none of them would survive but she would make their last days bearable.

The awnings behind her were suddenly torn back and a man in black stepped into the tent, sword in hand. "Twinblade wishes your audience Teresa" He had a sneering deep voice, which stank of malice. "Come on; now…leave these maggots to die." He looked around and grimaced as one man coughed up a pool of blood.

"I can't leave him" She said her voice was soft and gentle, very different from the bandits around her. "Twinblade will have to wait". She turned back to the man on the floor and looked at the large bolt stuck in his leg; it was infected, no way of saving him.

"Looks little lady, I told you Twinblade wants to see you now!" He walked forwards and made to grab her arm. He would regret doing that.

She heard him coming and turned as he came near. She grabbed his sword arm and pulled it forwards sharply, before jarring it back in an unusual manner. She heard a click and knew she had succeeded in dis-locating his shoulder. The man screamed in pain and stumbled backwards out of the tent, casting a deadly look before running off across the camp.

Teresa turned back to the man she had been treating, he lay still now. His wound was bleeding heavily, she could no nothing, and he had passed on. She sighed and dropped the sponge in the bucket beside her. Standing she turned to the moans of the men around the tent. These men were all dead, what on earth made them become bandits, especially with the heightened patrols around Oakvale nowadays. She shook her head and passed through the awning, unfortunately the bandit had been right.

She traipsed up the large hill that led to Twinblades tent, listening to the sounds of the bandits fighting. She could smell the aroma of cooking pork from the fires below, she'd have to help herself to some when she had met with Twinblade. She felt the air change, the warmth disappeared slightly and she realised she was on the top of the hill, going towards the Bandit Kings tent.

She heard the grunts of the two guards that always stood guard at his entrance, they didn't like her much, thought she was playing with their leaders mind. And yet she had never let him down yet. Teresa knew that there were many that would claim his throne at a moments notice, but she put a stop to that. She walked on and found her way to the large tent that dominated the Cliffside. She walked inside and heard the sound of talking ahead of her. One was the gruff voice of Twinblade, the other she clearly recognised as the bandit who had tried to grab her earlier. She heard the bandit's voice go creaky and then it was silent, followed by the thud of something on the wood. Twinblade was very protective of her, almost too protective, but she welcomed it. She walked into his chambers and stood before him. He felt his presence nearby and smiled.

"Teresa, you're here. I didn't mean t…" She stopped him mid-sentence.

"It is ok Twinblade; you just have to teach your bandits some manners is all." She walked and found the chair she always sat in, and took it. She heard the creaking of the floor as Twinblade shuffled uncomfortably.

"I just needed your advice" He said, his voice was unusually weak. "I've heard that the Guild is stepping up its action against bandits around this region, what do you know of this Teresa?"

She paused for a moment, this sort of thing was common from Twinblade, her ability to see things in the future was helpful for a leader of bandits, but she had to be careful in what she chose to tell him. "That is true Twinblade, but it will be many months before they threaten this camp, you are safe for now. But" – she said – "I suggest you tone down your raids on Oakvale, they are getting nosy."

Twinblade grunted in confirmation. "Well…sounds good to me. But why stop attacking Oakvale, they have goods we can trade, and we can kill intruders."

"It's not wise to make our presence so know Twinblade. If one were to get away the camp would be overrun in an instant." She put her hand to her head, something was wrong. She stood and walked quickly from the room, Twinblade turned and was about to speak but thought better of it, this happened all the time now.

She stumbled out of his tent and collapsed on a barrel outside. Teresa's blank vision blurred and she was suddenly hit with a wave of premonition. She pressed her hands to her eyes, but the visions were getting stronger. Suddenly an image filled her mind, a man, not older than eighteen was stepping from a large stone building, sword at his side and satchel over his back. Could it be who she thought it was? The image disappeared as soon as it had come, a flash in the dark. She panted, it had felt so real. If it was him then he would come looking for her, and nothing would stop him, not even Twinblade.

She stood uneasily, she was sweating terribly. Her skin felt clammy to the touch. The dreams were coming true. She had known her brother and mother still lived deep down, and now it was confirmed to her that at least one of them was alive and well. But a hero, she had not expected that. She thought back to that terrible night all those years ago, it had been such pain, unspeakable pain. She remembered the man who had cut out her eyes; she could still feel his knife against her skin when she suffered in her sleep. But, her power had kept her sane, and given her a gift, to see things even in this eternal darkness that fell over her like a thick fog.

She made her way to the Cliffside not so far away. The salty air was good, and she felt better already. She sat on the edge and lowered her legs over the side. She lay back and felt the sun again on her. The time she had spent here had been a blur. A blur of madness, blood, fighting and suffering, but it was better than lying dead in a grave in Oakvale she reckoned. She thought about her father constantly, and how he had tried to stop them taking her. But they had been too many for him. Her malice had manifested itself many times, when she had cut the head from many a bandit who mocked her for being a woman. She would live in her mother's footsteps until the day she died now, a warrior however ignoble her path now was.

She drifted off to sleep, her thoughts now on the man she had seen. He looked so much like her brother, it had to be him. It was only a matter of time until he came for her she thought. This would be something she would not be telling Twinblade. She dozed in the sun, feeling it warm her clammy body, it would be alright in the end.

In the trees behind the young woman a large metal monster stood motionless. It had the head of a dog, but the body of a man, covered in gold and silver armour. It creaked slowly as it moved up and down watching the woman on the Cliffside. It held by its side a large red-orange blade that it gripped tightly in metallic clawed hands. It would stay there for a long while, or until its master recalled it, but for now it was watching, just watching. It heard a noise behind it and turned to view what it was; a drunken human stumbled into the hiding place of this creature and stopped dead in front of it. The man froze and a look of terror played over its face. The creature turned round completely and raised its weapon.

The man turned to flee, but it was over quickly. As he did the creature slammed his weapon into his exposed back and ripped through his ribcage, sending a shower of blood into the air. The man struggled for a second before falling limp on the blade. The creature made a hollow resonating noise inside its helmeted head and let the body slide from its blade. It lifted a metallic foot and brought it down hard on his spine, no use in risking exposure. Without a second thought it turned back to the woman on the cliff and continued its vigil. It would wait, wait until his masters command and then take her too him. She would be a joyous hunt.

**Chapter VII – Slumming It**

Faustus sat in the Bowerstone tavern and peered over his glasses to the corner of the large open plan room. There were four people crowded round a small table, smoking their pipes and muttering. He knew he shouldn't pry, but it was his business to know other peoples plans. After all, he was a town guard. He might not have looked it, clad in his civilian clothes but he was indeed a guard in Bowerstone south, a position he highly regretted taking. Not only did he have the longest hours of anyone in his block but he also had to put up with all the riff raff that made it past the gatekeeper.

He had lost count of the amount of thieves, bandits, smugglers, tricksters, and other scum of the earth he had apprehended and put into a nice warm cell at the her Ladies pleasure. He laid his tankard down on the wooden table and took his glasses from his nose. He took a small piece of material from his pocket and cleaned them. He hated these things, but he had to wear them. At least with his guard cap on he could cover them. The lads would laugh if they knew, but thankfully they chose to stay in Bowerstone north during night hours. He stood and looked down into the ale below him. He decided he'd leave it, no use in getting too drunk tonight, even if he wanted to. He had to get up tomorrow morning and do his rounds bright and early, no good having a hang over, he'd miss things.

He made his way past the bar and nodded to Archibald the barkeep, they had been friends for a long time, and they had an arrangement beyond normal security about this place, but that was for him to know and others to find out, at their peril. He strode out of the tavern and stood on the steps for a second; he looked down at the entrance and saw a young man carrying a weapon walking up the road. He sighed to himself, these bandits were getting thicker by the day, and he made his way down the road and stopped the young man.

"Excuse me sir" He said, pulling his small metallic pendant from his pocket, bearing the sign of the Bowerstone guard. "But this is a weapon free town." He nodded towards the sword at his side. "If you'd kindly hand them over and I'll look after them with the other weapons and return them when you leave.

The man looked hesitant and kept his hand on the blades hilt. "Ok" The man said, and handed over the weapon cautiously. "But I need to guarantee it will be safe?"

Faustus rolled his eyes "Sir, your weapons will be in whatever state they are in…it's not up to me." He took the sword and put it under his arm. As he did he caught a glimpse of metal poking from his pocket. "Excuse me sir, but hand over all your weapons."

The man looked down at then up again "Are you joking?" He said sarcastically. But, suddenly realised what the guard was talking about. "Oh this, well I can't let you have this" He pulled the Guild Seal from his pocket and showed it to the guard, who looked taken aback.

"I'm sorry sir" Faustus said, and backed off. "I'll make sure your weapon is looked after personally. Now, please don't let me keep you." He blundered for a second before turning and walking to the guard post near the gate, leaving the man on his own.

Orpheus shook his head; this town had serious problems if it had to confiscate weapons on entry. He wasn't happy about it, but at least he knew the weapon would be safe. He watched the guard, dressed in his normal clothes; he seemed like a nice chap, a little over cautious, but a good man. He looked up at the sky; the night was cloudy, and chilly. He'd have to find a place to stay. He had spent a good half a day exploring the woods around the Guild, and found a good number of strange animals on his way, not to mention an abundance of large insects. But, it had been good to walk in the wild like he used to as a child, but now the more pressing matter of finding shelter bore down on him.

He made his way up the hill, passing locked houses and a large clothing store. All around them was overgrown areas of waste, broken wooden boxes and crates littered the sides of the houses and he was sure he spied a swarm of rats running in and out of the warren of rubbish that lay before him. Orpheus grimaced and walked to the sounds and lights of the tavern ahead. He walked on and made his way in, pushing his way past a rather drunk fellow who slumped past him and fell down the steps. He was about to catch him, but was dragged inside by someone instead and immediately found himself in the middle of a festive dance.

Fighting the many people grabbing at him, he fought his way through and pushed to the bar, collapsing onto a stool. He sighed and turned to the barkeep, "any rooms?"

The barkeep laughed "You think they'll be rooms…on a night like this, look around you mate!" He pointed to the dancing crowd. "No room's lad…sorry." He turned back to the barrels behind him and busied himself with the nozzles.

"What about if I paid extra" Orpheus said, and watched the barkeep turn around again.

"That…would help" He said and smiled broadly gesturing to a small trapdoor in the corner of the bar. "Sixty gold." He said and held out a grubby hand.

Orpheus reached into his pocket for his money bag, and a wave of panic flooded over him. He pulled his pocket inside out, his money had gone. He looked around and glared at the crowd of people dancing away, one of them had it; he saw a figure duck out of the dance quickly and dash for the doorway. But, Orpheus had seen him, and a wave of anger flowed over him. He stood, smashing the stool to the floor and pushed his way through the dance at a run, charging into the figure just as he stood in the doorway, sending them both flying down the steps.

He sent a fist flying into the persons face and heard a smash as it connected, the person stopped moving, he had knocked them clean out. He turned the person over and saw the blood lump on the persons face. The person he now knew as a man stirred. Orpheus pulled his fist back and went to strike again, but stopped himself as he heard a scream from inside the tavern. He looked round and saw a woman in the doorway pointing at them. Orpheus stood quickly and searched the man, finding his gold and stuffing it back into his pocket. He frowned at the man on the floor and pushed his way back inside, past the shocked onlookers. He grabbed the stool from the floor and slammed it down; he slammed the bag on the counter and then slid his Guild Seal onto the desk to.

"Guild business" He said and smiled grudgingly. What had the Guildmaster been thinking saying he should come here. There was nothing but drunkards and slums in this Avo Forsaken town. He took the right amount from his bag and slammed the coins on the desk. "Now…the room?"

The room, it turned out was nothing more than a grotty cellar. A cellar he had paid sixty gold for. He was about to complain, but the trapdoor shut behind him. He swore loudly and was only taken aback by someone in the corner of the room coughing loudly. He turned and saw a man dressed in green sitting against the wall.

"So, he got you with the old 'spare room' thing too eh?" The man was dressed like a trader, his trademark large hat by his feet, and his patchwork quilt of a jacket over him like a cover. He lent forwards and the fire light illuminated his face. It was scarred slightly, but he had a bright grin on his face.

Orpheus turned and smiled at the man "The names Orpheus." He walked forwards and presented his hand for the man to shake.

"Ah, one of them Chicken Chasers aint you?" He shook Orpheus's hand but smirked slightly.

"Chicken Chaser?" Orpheus didn't know whether the man was insulting him or anything. "What do you mean?"

The trader laughed. "I'm Ricckle by the way, but yeah, a Chicken Chaser…a new hero. Jesus, you don't know anything do you lad?"

Orpheus let go of his hand and took a seat on a beer keg nearby. "Why do they call us Chicken Chasers?" He had so much to learn about the world he had left behind all those years ago.

Ricckle then spent the next few hours, over a few cups of choice wine, telling Orpheus everything he needed to know about Albion in this day and age. The name 'chicken chaser' had been labelled to all starting heroes, since they had a habit of running around for quests like they were chasing a headless chicken. Often making things worse rather than helping in any way, shape, or form. Orpheus was surprised at this, but he carried on listening none the less. Ricckle also told him of Oakvale, and the forest of Darkwood that lay between them and it. No trader went through their anymore, preferring to wait for heroes with Cullis Gate access to take them there in one trip. Creatures that Ricckle called Balverines were apparently out in force, and many traders had been found cut to ribbons, looks of shock on their faces.

After a while however, Orpheus began to feel sleepy, the strong wine seemed to be having a rather groggy effect on him, and his vision had blurred beyond coherent shapes. In a few minutes he felt himself slump over the keg and his eyes closed, he was officially drunk he thought, a good way to start his first day as a hero. Still, he thought as he drifted off, at least he wasn't slumming it outside in the cold and chilly night air.

Faustus finished dragging the thief into the large iron prison cell outside Bowerstone North. The man was sporting a large bloody nose now; damn hero had smashed him up too well. Faustus was proud to have a thief behind bars, but he didn't particularly like the way the hero had gone about it. He was going to cause more harm than good if he carried on like this. He grumbled and closed the cell door, locking it tight. He was just glad the hero hadn't had his sword with him, or there would have been more paper work to get through. He sighed and walked back to the large entrance to Bowerstone North. He looked back up the hill, he swore he saw something move in between the trees, but it had gone as soon as he blinked. He shrugged and walked through the doors, closing it behind him and locking it securely. No-one would be getting in anyway.

**Chapter VIII – Bargate**

Jack stepped down the large flagstone staircase that twisted around the tower of Bargate prison. His boots clicked on the stones, resonating down the stairs and echoing menacingly. Behind him, two guards, dressed in black flanked him swords drawn, both looking surly and ready to enact some pain. Good, Jack thought that was the feeling he wanted for his particular prisoner. He reached the bottom of the stairs and stepped aside to let the guards open the large wooden door in front of him. The locks clicked and the heavy bolts slid back, creaking slightly with the sheer age and wear and tear put on the building. He let the guards walk in first and followed behind, smiling behind his mask.

The room was a small corridor with two cells lining the one wall. At the end was a larger cell, that inside housed a large rack. Blood was splashed across the walls and floors. The guards here weren't exactly subtle in their ways. He stepped to the edge of the bars and rapped his gauntleted knuckles on the bars.

"Rise and shine" He said, sneering as he did so. Jack stepped back and let the guards open the chamber door.

Inside, a woman moved weakly on the floor. She was in her middle age, her greying hair falling over her face. She was badly beaten, large bruises and cuts across her body. Blood covered her clothes, but still she had a large scarlet shawl around her neck, it was ripped and torn but she clutched it tightly.

"Stay back, you'll not touch me." She said. She moved herself across the floor away from the approaching guards. They sniggered and turned their swords so they could strike her with the flats.

Jack held his hand up and the guards stopped. "Leave us in peace." He said and waved them away. "You look weak my dear?" He leant forwards and looked down at her, laughing hollowly behind his mask.

She looked up and scowled at him. "You'll never break me Jack." Her voice was coarse and sounded like she had been screaming.

"Oh but I will" Jack said "You'll tell me all I want to know dear woman, and then I'll let you rest in peace." He stopped and looked at his hands. "That is, after I take your blood." He pulled his blade from his belt and hit her hard around the face with the flat.

She winced, but did not scream "You can try as much as you like Jack, but you'll never find what you want. It's too well hidden for the likes of you, a simple brute." She spat blood to the floor and forced herself up against the wall so she was sitting straight.

Jack frowned beneath his mask and stood "So be it Scarlet, lets see how you feel after another few hours on the rack." He laughed and motioned the guards back inside. He turned and left without another word.

The guards grabbed her roughly by her arms and lifted her to her feet. Scarlet was too battered to stop them, he was so weak, and the magic Jack had over this place stopped her from getting out of here and regaining her strength. Besides, she thought as she was locked into the rack, it would do more harm than good. She would want to see her son and daughter again, and she couldn't let Jack have them all. She would bare the pain, for as long as it took.

Jack smirked again as he heard the moans of pain from beneath him down in the cell. She would pay for everything. He lingered on something she had said, that he was a brute. He looked down at his hands and saw her blood on the metal gauntlets. He was no brute, he was brilliant. He had the mind of the Guildmaster and the fighting skills of Scythe himself. He was better than all of them, and they would all pay. Sometimes in odd moments he felt something inside of him stir, a feeling he had not felt for a long time. But, those moments passed quickly for him, he did not need to linger on his mortal past.

Jack stepped out onto the walkways that ran around Bargate prison. He stood and looked out over the stretch of water to the large Cliffside dock that shipped prisoners to the island prison. He saw the large black boat, its sails flapping in the wind; he would need to enact his plan sooner than he thought. He would head back to the mainland and visit Maze again, the boy had left the Guild now, and he was open to choice observations. He would make sure Maze watched him closely; he had to guide him on the right path if the plan was too work.

He frowned and made his way to his quarters, he would have to study the books closely if he was to understand where the sword was placed. He couldn't let the opportunity pass and he had to know everything. As he walked to the small room he removed his right glove and looked down at his hand. It was grey, mottled with red, his fingernails were yellowing, but he felt no pain. He moved it up to his mask and felt the smooth surface. He moved his hands to the side and felt the join between it and his skin. He had not seen his true reflection for a long time. He closed his eyes and heard a voice within his head. A whisper, something he couldn't quite catch, but It tugged on him. A second later the thoughts had faded from his mind and he carried on to his lodgings. He would need to be attentive for his nights work.

Maze gazed down at the note the creature had delivered him. It stood before him, silent and deathly. No-one could teleport inside the Guild without a seal, but Maze had broken the enchantment in his room so he could carry on his business. It was indeed a marvel of magical engineering, sorcery and metal holding the thing together. He had to commend Jack on his choice of servant. He analysed the letter again, Jack wanted him to meet in the Graveyard again to discuss the boy's future. Maze sighed and crumpled the note, throwing it into the large fireplace. He would go, but he knew what Jack would say. He had no real choice; after all he owed Jack everything, and more.

The minion stepped forwards when the letter hit the flames, creaking as if angered by the action. Maze looked up at it and gestured it could leave. The minion looked to the fire for a second and then back at Maze before fading in a haze of blue and disappearing from his room. He waited for a whole five minutes, until he was sure all was quiet and walked to the bookcase. He found what he wanted and pulled the book from the shelf, the piece of paper fell to the floor. He bent and picked it up, unfolding it. He would have to add more tonight. He took it back to his desk and flattened it on the table. It was now covered in scrawled writing, numbers and directions. He was so close, but all he needed was more research. It was a failsafe of thoughts, one he hoped the boy would find when the time came. He grabbed his quill from the pot nearby and started to write what he had learnt that day.

Jack grimaced as the minion appeared back in his room. He nodded to it and awaited its answer. It growled deeply, Jack understood. He was surprised that his creations were showing so much self awareness; he had certainly not intended it. He would have to get ready to meet Maze again, but this time he would show him the price of failure. He closed the large tome on his desk and reached for his cleaver which lay near his bedside. Just as he did he heard the door to his chamber open and a guard stepped in. He span and shot the guard a look of utter contempt. The guard stood, in complete shock of the minion beside him and turned to run, reaching for his whistle. Jack sighed and stepped outside the door watching the man flee, stumbling slightly, he wasn't ready to be discovered just yet.

He held out his left hand and twisted it in the air before him, a green mist seeped from it and shot towards the guard. It wrapped round his head and the man stopped, dropping the whistle to the ground with a dull thud. Jack sent his message to his mind, telling him to forget what he had just seen. The guard seemed to comply; he stood dumbfounded and looked around, saluting to Jack before picking up his whistle and walking on his way. Jack laughed, so fickle. He wasn't sure how much the mans mind could take; he would meet an unfortunate end, a little accident he thought. He turned and walked back into the room, closing the door behind him. He would have to be more careful. He took a small pendant from his desk and held it before him. It shimmered red and he reached out and touched the minion beside him. The two faded from view and disappeared completely.

Scarlet twisted in her shackles, and broke one of the chains around her leg. She kicked out and winded one of the guards beside her. Painfully, her arm ached as the other tightened the rack, pulling her arms and her now one leg further apart. She fumed and kicked out again, sending the guard flying into the cell bars, hearing a small dull thud as his head cracked against the metal. She heard a whistle blow and turned to see four more guards pour through the door at the end of the passage, and bustle into her cell. They grabbed her and unlocked her from the rack. She felt a moment of relief as the shackles came off, but it didn't last long. She was forced to the floor roughly and felt the cold steel of their weapons on her body, the flats of their sword stinging her skin. She winced in pain and curled into a ball, she couldn't do anything to stop it. She closed her eyes and let the pain wash over her, it was all for a good reason.

They didn't stop for what seemed like forever, but after a while they had left, tired and wanting ale. They had locked her back up, chained to the wall and laughed as they left. What had Jack done to get them on his side? Her skin stung with pain every time she moved, she found a more comfortable position and let herself slump against the cold stone. She laid her head against her shoulder and tried to sleep, remembering back to the times she had been free, and out of this Avo forsaken place. It was her fault her family was separated, and the feeling played on her mind constantly. She remembered the moment she had met Brom, all those years ago in the woods around Oakvale. He had been so kind to her, not a warrior, but strong in heart. He had bound her wounds and cared for her, they had fallen in love so quickly. The thought seemed too painful to her, but her mind created it for her anyway, she needed to hold on to these images if she was going to survive to see her children again.

Her peace was shattered, and she opened her eyes. A guard pushed a small wooden tray bearing a bowl of water and a loaf of bread through the cell door. He grunted and turned to leave. She looked at it longingly, but it was too far away to reach with her feet. She sighed and hung their in the cold, she would have to wait, but she had faith. She closed here eyes again and pictured the scenes she loved, it wouldn't be long.

**Chapter IX – The Perfect Picnic**

Orpheus stirred, his head was pounding. Something had woken him, but he wasn't sure what it was. He felt a warm feeling in his trousers and was sudden wide awake. He sighed with relief when he realised it was the Guild Seal glowing in his pocket, that would have been hard to explain. He rubbed his temple and took out the seal, it was glowing bright white. He tapped it, and a voice boomed from the seal, filling the tiny cellar. The Guildmaster's commanding voice boomed out.

"Orpheus, you are required at the Guild immediately, your first quest waits!" The voice faded again and the room became silent once more. It hadn't done a lot of good for Orpheus's headache though.

He looked round and saw Ricckle was still sleeping, how on earth he managed it he didn't know, especially with that blast from the Guildmaster. He stood and brushed himself off, knocking the dust from his clothes. His head was still pounding, but he'd put it out of his mind. He yawned and grabbed his bag from the floor, slinging it over his back and made for the trapdoor to the tavern above. He looked back at Ricckle and hesitated; he turned and took a few gold coins from his sack, and laid them on the keg next to him. That would buy him a good bodyguard through Darkwood. He yawned again and climbed the stone steps, pushing on the trap, good, he thought, at least the barkeep had had the decency to open it again for him.

He pushed his way out and slumped onto the floor of the tavern. A woman walked by pushing a mop. Orpheus stood and looked around, the bright light blinded him for a second, but he adjusted in a second. He felt himself start to yawn yet again, and stifled it. His back, now he had walked for a few seconds was killing him. That would teach him to sleep against a wooden keg he thought. He gestured to the barkeep that was spitting into flagons and nodded his thanks, even though he knew the man didn't deserve it. He walked out and made his way down the open streets to the front gate. The town looked a lot more presentable in the daylight; people were bustling around shouting and handing out flyers for their many shops. He took one from a friendly looking chap, and read it as he neared the guard house. It read something about the new blacksmiths halfway up the hill, and their selection of weapons and armour at cheap prices. He remembered the name and stuffed the note into his pocket, which would no doubt come in useful.

He reached the guardhouse and knocked on the large wooden door. He heard movement from the other side and a man opened the door in full guard uniform. He wasn't the man Orpheus had seen yesterday, this guy looked half drunk and ready to knock him out given half the chance. He didn't get a chance to say anything before the guard turned and dragged a chest to the doorway and flipped it open. Orpheus peered inside and saw his sword and a selection of other weapons, all tagged with little pieces of paper. He looked back at the guard, but he had already gone back to drinking heavily from a hip flask. Orpheus didn't want to wait and find out how mad this man was going to get and promptly took the sword, strapping it around his waist and tightening it. He thought about saying thank you to the guard, but thought better of it. He turned and walked to the large gates of Bowerstone, pushed on the smaller tradesman entrance and stepped out into the wilderness once more.

It really was a beautiful day, despite the sounds of something coming from over on the Cliffside overlooking the river. He sighed, probably more parties. It was getting to that time of year at harvest where everyone was in the party mood. He wondered how anyone got anything done with the amount of ale that seemed to be consumed in these few weeks. He made his way up the hill, trying to ignore the sounds coming from his right and made his way briskly to the large doors of the Guild. He passed two people in deep conversation; one looked slightly worse for wear and was sporting a large bruise on his head. Orpheus didn't know what on earth was going on, and he had a sneaking suspicion this was about his quest.

He stepped back into the cool shade of the entrance hall. He had only been gone a day and he felt like it had been an entire year. He spied the Guildmaster in deep conversation with another student and made his way towards him. The Guildmaster noticed him and whispered quickly in the student's ear, before smiling and walking towards Orpheus.

"You said you had an important quest sir?" Orpheus stood straighter and tried to ruffle his hair to make it more presentable.

"Yes lad and it's of the utmost importance." He walked to the large map table and pointed to a small crystal dot. "The picnic site on the top of Lookout Point has been overrun my insects lad, and we need someone to clean them, and their queen out."

Orpheus couldn't believe it, relegated to bug duty before he had even begun. "But sir, there must be something else?" He looked at the map and spotted a few crystals in Knothole and Hook Coast. He had never been to these places, but they sounded better than bug duty.

The Guildmaster cut his exploring short. "Those are assigned to another hero boy; you need to start on this." He looked at him sternly "Its still important lad so get out there and help those people out. There should be a man outside who can show you the way." He turned and walked towards the staircase, pausing to shout behind him "Remember all the skills you learnt boy" before walking up the stairs and out of view.

Orpheus grimaced, 'wonderful' he thought. He slung his bag over his back and pulled his sword from its sheath. He cricked his neck and rubbed his temples. The headache was gone for now. He made his way to the doors and stepped back out into the sun. He sighed and turned to the two men in conversation.

"Is one of you here for the insect infestation?" He stifled another yawn and looked intently at the two men.

They both looked at each other, and then examined him up and down, raising their eyebrows. "Yeah, that's me" One of them piped up, the man with the ugly bruise. "Hurry, before they get out of control." He cast a glance back at the other man and jogged up the hill, Orpheus in hot pursuit.

They jogged back up to the top of the hill and passed the large statue that marked Lookout Point. They carried on past it and down a path Orpheus had not looked down yesterday. A woman came screaming towards them, waving her hands above her head and shouting that 'the wasps were after her'. Orpheus readied his sword, but nothing came after her. He cast a look at the man he was following and saw a look of nervousness on his face. They neared the archway that led to the picnic area and he abruptly stopped and waved him on.

"All yours mate" He said, and took a seat on a large rock. "I'll come and give you your reward when it's safe" He pulled a pipe from his pocket and lit it.

Orpheus frowned and tightened his satchel around his chest. He clasped his sword in two hands and walked cautiously down the small earthen path to the picnic area itself. It wasn't long before the sound of buzzing filled the air and he was able to take in the size of this infestation. He walked round the corner and looked down on what must have been a dozen bloated wasps like creatures, larger than he had seen in the woods yesterday gorging on corpses that littered the area. This was no Guildwood assignment. He noticed a woman in trouble pinned behind a picnic table and ran down towards her, watching around him to see if any of the wasps noticed his approach.

He neared her and pulled her backwards just as one of the wasps slammed its stinger into where her leg had just been. "Get out of here" he said, batting one of the wasps away with his sword.

She nodded and ran as fast as she could, tripping slightly on her long skirt before getting clear. Orpheus turned his attention back to the wasps in front of him; all of them had now noticed his presence. They turned and buzzed angrily forming into a solid array of beating wings and carapace and advanced on him. They were almost too quick, but he dodged behind the picnic table just in time, four of the wasps thudded into the table, their stingers poking out the other side, thank Avo for that, he thought. He stood quickly and sliced downwards, cutting the bugs in half and watched them shudder before falling silent, wings flicking occasionally. Four down he thought.

He didn't have time to relax however, as the rest of the wasps were now buzzing towards him quickly. Orpheus raised his left hand and blasted one of them in a cloud of electrical energy, taking another one out with a quick slash of his sword. One got through, and he felt a burning sensation as the sting broke off in his shoulder. He yelped and slashed after it, cutting it in half. But, it had still hit him, and that was worse than he thought. The shoulder was going numb quickly, and he couldn't seem to raise his left arm anymore, the poison was a paralyzing agent. He grimaced and went about dispatching the last of the wasps with his good sword arm, cutting them up easily and avoiding any more of their stings. That hadn't been too bad, he thought.

But, just as the last wasp was cut down, he felt something moving ahead of him, below the ridge of the cliff. He turned and looked up in shock as a large, monstrous wasp hovered up from the ridge and hung in the air above him. This was not good. It buzzed loudly and flew at him, it was close, but he dodged it landing behind a bench and clutching his paralysed arm to his chest. He breathed heavily, how on earth he was meant to beat this new threat he didn't know. He took a moment to compose himself, the wasp queen was buzzing towards him, lower this time. He needed a free hand to cast his spells, but he couldn't just not use his sword, and then it hit him.

He launched himself onto the bench and ran across its short surface before jumping towards the wasp queen; he was now level with her. He thrust his sword forwards and flung it at the queen, she dodged to the side but he was too close, the blade sunk into her belly and punctured the carapace. He landed hard in the dirt and rolled to avoid her next sting attack, which slammed into the ground, sending dirt flying into the air. He looked up and with his now free hand sent a line of florescent blue energy towards her body. The spell impacted and she lit up, he could smell her burning with the magic energy. Orpheus concentrated hard and let more energy pour from his hand, the queen rocked backwards from the shock and her wings stopped beating, she collapsed to the ground, smoking and charred.

Orpheus panted, that spell had taken a lot of him. He walked forwards and yanked his blade from her belly; it was still hot from the effects of the spell. He winced and sheathed the weapon. He looked to his arm; it was still as limp as a dead fish. He un-strapped the belt that held his satchel and awkwardly fed his arm through as a make shift sling, that felt better. He turned as he heard clapping behind him, the man he had met previously and the woman both applauded him, keeping their distance even now from the scene of carnage. Orpheus smiled; it hadn't been that bad after all. At least now the people of Bowerstone could picnic in relative peace.

**Chapter X – Memories**

_A Few weeks later…back at Orchard Farm_

Orpheus felt his sword drop slightly in his grip as he looked at Whisper in front of him. He hadn't seen her for about a month and she had changed so much. She looked taller now, and from the way she had dealt with those guards, she wasn't afraid of dealing out some pain. He shook his head and brushed the hair from his eyes. It had been a hard few weeks after he'd dealt with those wasps at Lookout Point, his arm had not healed properly for a few days and he had feared he might never regain the use of it. He had, however been able to buy this chain mail with his reward from the quest, and had looked after it with devotion. He knew now why it was so needed, especially after the wound he'd just taken a few minutes ago.

"You just going to stand their?" Whisper said and looked round him too the boxes lying next to the crumpled bandit.

"So" Orpheus murmured "You're the one who took the other side to this quest" He shifted his stance and covered the boxes completely, sword in hand and held in front of him in a guarding stance.

"Lady Grey has promised a handsome reward for those boxes farm boy, why not share the profits with me?" Whisper took her staff from her back and held it in front of her too. She was ready to fight him for the prize.

"Sorry Whisper, but I made a promise. And I don't break promises" Orpheus let his eyes scan her stance, he needed to find a way to subdue her, he didn't want to kill Whisper.

She laughed behind her mash and twirled her staff. "You may have beaten the bandit's wimps, but you'll have to try harder to beat me farm boy." She didn't look like the Whisper he knew before, she had changed so much.

They charged, taking the small distance between them to pull their weapons high to strike. They clashed, Whispers steel rod hummed with vibration as it slid down Orpheus's blade. He locked it against the hilt of his weapon and forced her to step backwards, her feet sliding in the dirt as he forced her staff against her. She sidestepped as he cam forwards, and he felt his sword falling to the floor as he tipped forwards, he caught himself as he fell and span just in time to catch her next blow as it swung towards his head. It slammed into his blade and sent a shower of sparks into the air. Orpheus stumbled and readied himself again, he'd need to try something different, adapt to her way of fighting.

He watched her as she stepped forwards, her staff guarding her. Orpheus noticed a gap and made for it with his weapon, forcing her to block and leave her right side unguarded. He raised his left hand and shot a blast of energy towards her. The blows caught her on the side and span her into the air. Her staff flew from her hand and she slammed into the barn wall, her helmet falling from her head. Orpheus stood and waited, he had a feeling this wasn't over. And he was right.

He noticed Whisper pull something from her belt and throw it so quickly he didn't have time to react. The small bottle of liquid smashed against his side and ignited, he felt a burning sensation and noticed the lick of flame across his side. He yelled and felt himself send a blast of energy back towards Whisper, he didn't know why, but he powered his spell to full force and saw her body smash through the barn wall with the force of the hit. Orpheus grabbed a bucket of water from the side of the barn and splashed it over the burning area, it had melted his leather and he felt it sting on his skin. She had tried to hurt him badly, this wasn't a game anymore.

He grimaced and kicked his way through the barn wall, sending the wood lying. Whisper was on the ground, holding her side; the blast had sent her flying through the wall with a lot of force. He stood over her and pointed his sword to her neck. For the first time in a few weeks he felt that surge of anger flood into his mind, the urge to kill her entered his mind. He shook his head and the haze vanished, what was he thinking, this was Whisper. He took the sword from her neck and sheathed it, he could not, and he would not kill her. He bent down and checked her; she was ok, just winded and battered slightly. He picked her up and slumped her across his shoulders. He looked around, the bandits were all dead or fleeing, and one of the guards had sat up and was nursing a bleeding lip. He looked back to the boxes; they were safe, for now.

He winced at the pain in his side and dragged Whisper up the small incline to the farmer's cottage. He adjusted her weight on him and knocked on the door. He heard a dozen locks slide back and the old farmer peered through the small crack in the door. He looked at Orpheus and then the woman slumped over his shoulder and after a second of thought, opened the door for them.

"Thanks" Orpheus said and dragged Whisper inside. He looked for a bed and slumped her down onto it. He turned and cracked his neck, the burning sensation in his side had gone, and the nerves had been burnt away. He looked down and felt the wound, still tender.

"Let me have a look at that" The farmers wife bustled towards him and led him to a small stool near the stove. She sat him down "Take off your armour son, I'll clean up the wound."

Orpheus obliged and undid the strapping on his chainmail, letting it fall to the floor. The sudden freedom of movement was relieving. He raised his left arm and felt the cool water from the woman's damn cloth on his skin. It stung slightly around the wound where the nerves hadn't been completely destroyed. It would take a long time for them to heal. He looked over at Whisper on the bed; she was stirring now, regaining consciousness. He nodded to the woman and took the damn rag, keeping it pressed against the wound and dragged his stool over to the bed side. He looked down at her and checked her over, she was fine, no damage had been done bar mild bruising He closed his eyes and leant back against the wooden walls. He heard the farmer and his wife talk for a second and then the clatter of pots and pans on the stove. He smiled as he closed his eyes and let the sleep take him.

Hours passed, Orpheus was awoken slowly by the smell of cooked meant, floating in the air before him. He smiled and opened his eyes, expecting to see his mother cooking for him. He had to push the image from his mind as he realised he was back in the small farmhouse. He looked down at the wound on his side, it was feeling much better now, but the nerves were still badly damaged. He remembered the fight and turned to see where Whisper was. The bed was empty. He stood and walked to the woman by the stove.

"Where did the young woman I came in with go?" He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and gazed out of the latticed windows. The bodies had gone, and Farmer Maggot was boarding up the holes in the barn.

"She left about an hour ago lad." She wiped her hands on her apron and pulled something from her pocket. "She asked me to give you this." She held out a hand and handed him a small wooden object.

Orpheus turned it over in his hands, it was a small brooch. With two wooden clasps at the ends, he wondered why Whisper had left this, but smiled and pocketed the brooch without a second thought.

The woman turned and motioned to the table. "We cleaned your armour and left your reward on the table" She smiled at him and then went back to cooking the meat.

Orpheus looked at the armour, it was shining brightly. He turned to thank the woman, but she waved a hand in his direction to shut him up. He laughed and took the chainmail, fitting it back around his top. He took the bag of gold and felt its weight. "This is too much" He said.

"Oh, she left you that too." The woman didn't turn round.

Orpheus frowned. He didn't think Whisper would do that and had a sneaking suspicion that the farmers wife had given him a little extra just to make sure he was ok. He liked the gesture but he felt like he was stealing from her. Still, he thought. He'd take it to town and spend it on a nice gift for them. He pocketed the gold and stretched, feeling the wound in his side ache slightly. He opened the large door and stepped out into the fading sunlight. At least he'd survived this one. He wondered why Whisper had been so violent; he didn't know why she would want to hurt him so much. It had taken him by surprise when she had thrown that vial at him, it seemed highly un-characteristic.

He shrugged the thoughts from his mind and checked the sky. The sun was going down behind the hill, he wanted to get back to Bowerstone before nightfall and have a talk with Ricckle. The trader had been involved in some nasty business on the other side of Darkwood in Barrowfields and he had said he'd give him a hand. He walked past the farmer and nodded, the man waved back and smiled. He was glad to have those stones gone from his barn Orpheus thought.

He was walking back through the canopy shelter of Greatwood and remembered something Maze had told him the day before. He had put it to the back of his mind for a long time, but now he was free to think on the matter. Maze had told him that they had perhaps found where his sister Teresa was. He had thought her dead, but apparently she was living somewhere near Oakvale. He had not disclosed how he knew this, and he seemed reluctant to share more. Orpheus had spent a while thinking on it, but didn't want to think about his sister at the moment. It was too painful, and he had more important things to concentrate on, like his numerous injuries.

He pushed a hand through his hair, it was getting too long. He would have to get it cut again, Or at least tie it back. He stopped and looked around him for a second; the forest was eerily quiet, as if something was watching him from the shadows. He turned and looked over the low crumbling walls into the expanse of tight woodland that stretched for miles. He swore he saw something fade away in a haze of red mist, but he couldn't be sure. He checked his mind and forced himself not to investigate. It was probably nothing.

**Chapter XI - Rose**

The young woman stepped down from the boat and landed on the icy pier of Hook Coast. She pulled a book from under her arm and checked to see if she was indeed in the right place. These traders and ship captains were always drunk, best to check. She walked forwards, slipping slightly on the decking before reaching the tavern. The doors on all the shops were boarded up, and huge signs reading 'no entry' dotted the outsides of the buildings. The trouble was worse than she thought. She made her way up the road towards the ruined abbey, there her contact would meet her and inform her of what was happening. She knew Ice Trolls were common here, but now they were attacking with renewed vigour.

She heard something in the hills to her left and cast a glance up at the mountain side. She could just pick out a handful of shapes moving in the snow, these trolls were too close for comfort. She made her way to the abbey entrance and found her contact huddled against the wall, shivering. He was such an idiot, he wasn't wearing enough clothes, and he'd freeze to death.

"H…hee…lllo Briar." He said, his teeth chattering madly. "How's it going?" He stood and rubbed his arms, his leather armour really wasn't enough.

"You idiot Blain, you'll catch your death of cold." She conjured a small spell and a glow of energy grew around the man. "That'll keep you warm." She shook her head and adjusted her glasses. "Now what about these trolls?"

Blain stood and stopped shivering. He coughed and pointed up at the mountain side. "There's about three Ice Trolls holed up there in the caves." He coughed again "They came down about two days ago and killed a handful of guards, and smashed a bloody great hole in one of the houses over there" He turned and pointed to the houses across from them.

There was indeed a large boulder lodged in the side of the building. Briar raised her eyebrows; this was going to take some sorting out.

"How many guards are left?" She said, flicking through her book again looking for something.

"About five or six." Blaine said "Why, you don't want to take them on directly do you?" Blain looked worried and clutched his sword hilt tighter, he didn't like fighting things bigger than him.

"No you idiot" She said, she slapped him round the head and looked back to her book. "I'm going to use them as bait." She said the last bit a lot quieter than the rest of the sentence.

Blain rubbed his ear. He wouldn't usually let anyone do that, but this was Briar. He blushed slightly and said quickly "Bait…there not going to like that."

"That's why I'm not going to tell them their bait Blain." She found what she was looking for and turned it so Blain could see. "This is how we beat them." And pointed to a scrawled drawing of what was unmistakably an Ice Troll being blasted with fire.

"All well and good" Blain said "But, where do we get that amount of fire from?" He thought he'd got one up on Briar, for once.

She slapped him again "The Tavern you idiot." She pointed to the large building. "Cover the dockside with ale and that fire-whisky you go on about all the time and then set it alight when they step into it" She closed the book as if that was the end of the matter. "Now, all you need to do Blain is go and get them to come down…with those guards." She smiled and walked off down the road.

Blain grimaced 'great' he thought.

It took him a good hour to round up all the guards he could, and they were soon walking up the large mountain pass to the Trolls cave. He looked back at the guards behind him, all looking intensely scared at the prospect of fighting the things that had ripped their mates to shreds. Blain chose to take his normal sword and crossbow with him, thinking it would be better to be fast than dead when the time came. He remembered when he had first met Briar, when they had left the Guild together. He had had a massive crush on her from the first day they had met, but not done anything about it. He regretted it now, but still, he liked to think that one day things might change.

He shrugged and pulled his crossbow from his back. He loved the fire enchantment on this thing, made it so damn useful in this Skorm ridden place. He loaded a bolt and pulled it back. The guards behind him did the same, loading them with shaking hands. They were at the entrance to the cave in no time. They all stood in the entrance, looking into the gloom. Blain looked at the guards to the side of him and nodded. The one to his left aimed his crossbow into the darkness and reluctantly fired a bolt into it. They heard a thud, and a dull roar. Blain gulped, this was going to be interesting.

It didn't take long for the trolls to reach them. The guards shot their bolts into the creatures and turned to run almost immediately. Blain turned and swore loudly, this wasn't part of the plan, Briar needed more time. He looked up as a large icy hand swooped down and missed his head my mere inches. He swore again and shot his bolt into the nearest one; the flaming projectile slammed into it and melted a large patch of its icy skin away. It didn't do much good; the beast just shrugged it off and swung for him again. Blain ducked the second blow; the other trolls were too near now. A crazy idea hit him.

He looked round at the stone slope behind him, it seemed pretty safe, but he had to get out of here somehow. The Trolls had blocked his path down the pathway and complete forgotten about the guards. He sighed and jumped backwards, landing hard on the icy stone. It was going to work. He turned and felt his boots slip on the ice, and started gliding down the surface, gathering speed. The trolls behind him roared and tried to follow, jumping after him with a loud boom. Blain felt his feet leave the ground and he hit the stone on his rear, painfully he slid down over the rocks and crashed into a bank of snow that lay against the back of the tavern. He turned just in time to sprint out of the way as the three trolls slammed down after him and slammed into the back of the tavern, bringing timber and snow down around him.

He stood and brushed the snow off of him; the Trolls roared and punched each other trying to stand. He had a moment of relaxation before they turned and lunged for him. He dodged the flying fist and ran off down the dockside, seeing Briar ahead of him, finishing off the last of the trap. He slugged through the now mushy and somewhat fragrant snow and slid to a halt besides Briar.

"That was original" She said.

Briar looked ahead of her; the Trolls were smashing their way free of the tavern and walking towards them purposefully. She looked to Blain, he was pretty beaten up, but he would heal. She was amazed he had thrown himself off that cliff like that, but he was a male hero, what did she expect. She nodded and Blain raised his crossbow, fitting a new augmented bolt into the thing and latching it back. He took aim and waited.

The trolls thundered towards them, ripping up the stone as they did, before crashing into the trap. They roared and lifted chunks of the road into the air and prepared to throw. Blaine didn't need to wait for the signal; he fired and let the bolt burst into flames as it buried itself in the snow. The effect was immediate, the snow rippled for a second before a small explosion rocked the dockside. Blaine and Briar were through backwards, landing in a heap, snow and bits of rock falling on their heads. The trolls were engulfed in a wave of flame that licked across the snow and engulfed them from all sides. Two turned and threw themselves off the side of the dock, crashing through the wall and plunging into the deep water; they flailed for a second and sank like stones. The last one roared loudly and charged forwards, wreathed in fire-whisky induced fire and brought a large hand down on the two of them.

Blain woke just in time; he grabbed Briar and pulled her free of the incoming fist. He flung her across the snow as the fist slammed down into the ground and sent a shower of rock into the air. He turned and looked into the beasts eyes; it was right on top of him. He swore and grabbed the sword from his belt. He wretched it free and slammed it hard into the creatures open mouth. Flame licked over his leather armour and he pulled himself away from the beast as it flailed, trying to take the weapon from its mouth. It droned lowly and fell backwards, splintering into a thousand pieces as it hit the fiery floor. Blain rolled in the snow and put the flames out. He crawled over to Briar and shook her awake, he found her glasses and handed them too her.

"No" he said "THAT was original". He laughed and looked back at the melting ice of the troll. That had been a close call.

**Chapter XII – Graveyard Shift**

Faustus sat back in his armchair and gazed at the wall across the room. His office really wasn't that interesting, and sitting here for a few hours he'd begun to start counting the bricks on the wall. He'd managed to get to around one hundred and then stopped, mainly because he had been distracted by a small bug flying around his head and lost count. He didn't want to start that exercise again. He had been posted as night watchman a few days ago, forced to sit here and wait for arrests to come in so he could file the appropriate reports and then send them on his way. The previous watchman had met a very unfortunate end at the hands of a crazed bandit, who when his captor were not looking had leapt over the table and thrown him out of the stained glass window behind him. Faustus looked round, it still hadn't been refitted.

He sighed and grabbed his keys from the desk, probably best to go and check on the prisoners again. Faustus twirled them round his fingers, and stuffed his glasses into his pocket. He adjusted his now aging black cap and made sure it covered his eyes. He'd been told it made them seem more menacing, just what he needed to scare the life out of some prisoners. He picked his sword from the side of his desk and strapped it round his waist. He then scribbled a note on a piece of paper and left it facing the door, they'd have to just bring them straight down to the cells if they brought any more people inside.

Faustus cricked his neck and made for the prison door, stuffed the key into the ancient lock and pulled open the heavy door. The stench of the prison block wafted up and Faustus repressed a gag, he really hated his job. He pulled his shirt up around his mouth and walked down the steps, keeping one hand on his sword hilt just in case anyone had got out and was wandering around. The stairs wound down for a few minutes before he finally hit solid floor, the flagstones dripped with water. He was always surprised that the Bowerstone authorities allowed this kind of treatment, even of bandits to continue. But, then again he thought, they were all under the thumb of Ms Lady Grey, and that was a comfortable place to be for many.

Loyalty to Lady Grey meant a good house, good food and a lot of dirty gold. He knew things that could put a lot of the guards away for life in other towns of Albion, but because of a strange loyalty he refused to tell anyone. He was good at keeping secrets. He remembered he had nearly been taken into that circle of society when he had first been posted here, but he had resisted temptation and stuck with what he'd been given. He shook the thoughts from his mind, remembering what he had nearly been persuaded to do. Never again, he often thought. He wasn't surprised that the Sergeant in charge of Bowerstone had posted him down here, after all he had left spoken out about him to a few of his fellow guards, he had a disgusting habit of sleeping around behind his wife's back, and this was Faustus' punishment for talking about it so freely. Everyone knew about it, it seemed apart from his poor wife.

Faustus carried on down the passage until he reached another large oaken door. This one had four extra locks, one for each key on his ring. He took them one by one and opened them slowly. The smell got stronger as the door opened wider, this really was disgusting. He grimaced and pushed his way inside, closing the door securely behind him. The cell block was silent, bar a quiet murmuring coming from the end of the hallway; someone was indeed talking fast to someone else. Faustus drew his blade and flattened himself against the wall; all the prisoners were isolated, they couldn't be talking in one cell alone, someone else was down here. He walked forwards carefully, stuffing the keys into his pocket so they wouldn't make a sound as he walked and came closer to the cell door. He waited as he did, the conversation was clearer now; at least one of the participants was a man.

"Look" The tired voice said "I don't know what you're talking about. I've never heard of anyone called the Archaeologist!" The voice seemed to stammer with fright as whoever he was talking too walked forwards, Faustus could hear the grind of metal on stone, this person certainly shouldn't be here.

"You…will…tell…me…mortal" The voice was deliberate and metallic. It resonated, and yet was nearly so quiet that Faustus had to strain to hear, going as close as he dared without revealing himself. "Tell…me…or…suffer"

The man this thing was interrogating stammered again "I told you…I told you! I don't know of anyone by that name!" Faustus heard the scuff of feet on the stone and the man yelped. Faustus had heard enough.

He turned and looked into the cell ahead of him. His blood froze as he looked upon the thing that had been conversing with the man. A large metallic creature, clutched the man by the throat, holding a sword to the mans throat, he didn't seem to notice Faustus behind him and was applying great pressure to the mans neck, that was, until Faustus' keys dropped from his pocket and clattered on the stone floor, sending a ringing crash around the cellblock. The creature stopped moving, looked to the prisoner and squeezed. His neck seemed to collapse under the pressure and his neck snapped, he went limp as the creature dropped him, then, it turned to face Faustus.

Faustus felt his head telling him to run, but his legs were glued to the spot with fear. The creature walked towards him and stared at him through the bars, its hollow beast like eyes staring into his very soul. Faustus felt himself quiver and he stepped backwards slowly, this thing couldn't get him, it was trapped, he had to go get help. But, just as this thought entered his mind, the strange creature laughed hollowly and a red mist appeared around its feet. Faustus reached for his whistle and started to blow it, no-one would hear it, but he had to try. He had to have someone else here to back up this ridiculous story. And yet, even as he blew for the third time, the creature had dissipated and vanished into thin air, just the body of the prisoner left to show that anything had even transpired here.

His whistle had done more than rouse the guards above him, the prisoners too had awoken and had begun rattling their steel mugs against the bars, shouting and swearing at him. Faustus bent and scooped his keys from the floor; he had to get out of here. He turned and went to run back up the stairs but found himself running straight into the chest of another man. He stopped and looked up, tipping back his cap to see who it was, the Sergeant glared back at him through thick eyebrows.

"Well, well, well…deserting your post eh Faustus?" He smirked and a look of pure delight spread over his face.

An hour later, Faustus sat in the office of the Guildmaster of the Heroes Guild. The Sergeant had been positively fuming when he had been told that this was not Faustus' fault and that he had to come here immediately. He would have delighted in seeing Faustus thrown out of the guard's regiment. Faustus however wasn't so excited. He was pleased that he had been cleared so quickly, but anyone that came to the Guild, and wasn't a hero, was there for a very specific purpose. He waited in the large winged armchair, looking at the large bookcases, wondering when the Guildmaster would return. He had said he wouldn't be long, that he was going to fetch a college. Faustus didn't like the sound of that, but he obliged and had been sitting here for a good fifteen minutes.

But, just as he thought of leaving to find them, the door behind him opened and the Guildmaster entered, flanked by a man Faustus had not seen before, clad in a purple robe with jet white hair spiked from his head. He had glowing tattoos covering his body, and looked like a force to be reckoned with. They walked past him, the Guildmaster nodding as he did and took a position on the other side of the desk. The taller man stood behind him and glared scathingly at Faustus, while the Guildmaster prepared to speak.

"We need you to tell us everything you saw Faustus." The Guildmaster lent forwards and clasped his hands in front of him. "However minor, we need you to reiterate what you saw down there".

Faustus gulped and looked to them both, the taller man was still glaring madly at him. He began to tell them everything, the creature, the man, what they had both said. He confessed that he hadn't heard their entire conversation, but was sure that he had said enough to them both. When he mentioned the word Archaeologist the taller man behind the Guildmaster had frowned immediately and shifted his feet. The Guildmaster too had frowned and moved back in his chair, this was obviously un-nerving news for someone like the revered Guildmaster to feel uncomfortable. After he had finished the Guildmaster paused and spoke to him again.

"Well done Faustus, we have made arrangements for you to be moved from Bowerstone to Knothole Glade." We feel that you might fit in more around there; your things are prepared and ready to go.

Faustus looked at the Guildmaster with surprise. "I'm sorry sir, but I can't just leave Bowerstone" He paused for a second, taking in the Guildmasters expression. "I have work to do, and people to visit today" He remembered he had to go help Archibald fix the sign over the front of the tavern.

"We have taken that into consideration Faustus, but for your safety and the safety of others we need you to be somewhere they will not look for you." He leaned forwards again "And Knothole is the safest place we can think of".

Faustus couldn't argue, whatever excuse he came up with he was still being shipped off to that place. He had heard the numerous stories of Balverines in the woods there and wasn't too excited to see if the rumour were true. He stood, after being told of how he would reach there and left the room, wringing his cap in his hands, he wasn't sure this was the best idea.

As the guard Faustus passed through the door and closed it behind him, the Guildmaster turned and looked to Maze.

"This is worse than we thought Maze, call Briar Rose at once, we will need her help in this."

**Chapter XIII – Balverines and Broads**

Orpheus jerked the large rucksack onto his back and tightened the sleeved chain mail around his chest. It had started to come apart slightly after a few days more wear and tear, especially after a minor incident with a bandit captain. Orpheus now however had been lucky enough to find an augment crystal within the confines of the bandit camp, and had stuffed it into his pocket for safe keeping. That, he though was going in something special. He looked round at Ricckle and the other trader, they did indeed look petrified at the thought of going into the midst of Darkwood, but it was something that had to be done. Ricckle had asked him to escort them through, a Balverine had been spotted, and that meant there was at least a pack of four here in the woods.

Added to that, the waves of bandit attacks had also started to rise and a number of guards had been seen dragging the bodies of Traders from the river, floating down from the boggy marshland of Darkwood over time. Orpheus himself was quite worried; he'd never been into this part of the woods before. He had tended to stay to Greatwood, and deal with the infestations of Hobbes, small stunted goblin like creatures, that had taken up residence around the farmland. This had been a hard task, but nothing like what he was about to face in the dank darkness of Darkwood.

Ricckle walked to his side and stood close so the other trader Bardo couldn't hear him. "What are the chances of getting through here without a scratch?" He said, masking his fear with a jolly laugh.

Orpheus pulled his sword from his side and looked down the blade, sharp as the day it had been made. "Very slim if afraid Ricckle, but watch the road and get behind me if anything comes after us". He sheathed the sword again. "Don't worry; we'll be in Barrowfields in no time."

Ricckle didn't look convinced and smiled worryingly. Bardo came up beside him and smiled at them both. He seemed a lot more relaxed than Ricckle, but that's because he'd never walked these paths before. Orpheus remembered he hadn't either and a pang of guilt shot through him, he was responsible for these men's lives, a lot rested on his shoulders. He looked around to check no-one was behind them and moved off down the steep hill towards the small ford that crossed the river. Nothing seemed to be around save the flitter of birds in the trees and the occasional sound from the river itself. As they crossed the small muddy ford, Orpheus cast a look over the fence and into the murky waters to his left. The shallow pool seemed to glisten eerily back at him, he wasn't sure but he swore he saw a pale hand beneath the sediment. He wouldn't be surprised.

Suddenly, from out of the bushes, a man, covered in blood and tattered clothes collapsed onto the path in front of them. He landed in a heap, and stared up at Orpheus and the now frightened traders.

"Please, help me!" he cried. "I've been attacked…by some kind of animal" He looked to his chest and showed a large claw mark now emblazoned on it, as well as many cuts and bruises around his eyes.

Ricckle came up besides Orpheus and whispered "We cant, he's been infected. He'll turn on us in a few hours!" He grabbed Orpheus shoulder and tried to force him onwards past the man.

Bardo piped up behind them, leaning against the rickety fence. "Its our duty to keep him with us Ricckle, remember we swore a Trader oath".

Ricckle turned round and swore loudly "Screw the oath; we'll all be mince meat if he changes!" He was shaking with the sheer thought of it.

Orpheus bent down and helped the man to his feet. He turned and shouted "Both of you be quiet!" They instantly fell silent. "Now" – he turned to the injured trader once more – "How long have you been hurt for?"

The trader winced with the pain from the gash in his side. "Only a few minutes, we was attacked back down through that pathway." He pointed to a large arch that framed the exit to another part of the forest paths. "They killed the rest and the bandits too."

Orpheus forced a smile of comfort. "Ok, well you're with us now. Do you think you can hold on till we reach Barrowfields?" He checked his wounds, he was bleeding but it wasn't fatal.

"I should be able to" he stood taller and breathed in deeply.

"Ok" Orpheus said. He turned to Ricckle and Bardo. "We've taking him with us. Now get ready to move again." He hiked the rucksack back onto his back and pulled his sword out, he wasn't taking any chances now.

He swore he heard Ricckle say 'we're all dead' behind his back, but he wasn't about to put a downer on the group before it had already begun. After all, he thought. There was a lot of Darkwood to get through and very little time by the looks of it. He cast an eye over the injured trader as they made their way towards the hill down to the swampland. He didn't hold much hope for the man; he would more than likely have to kill him when the time came. The problem was, he'd never fought a Balverine before, and it would certainly be an experience.

They walked down through the small winding roads towards the swamp. A large demon door stood part way down, at the scene of the brutal butchering of the traders that the man had spoke of. Their bodies had been ripped to shreds by what was now obviously a Balverine. Orpheus checked them, most certainly dead. He turned and waved the others on past the bodies. He would have to watch the rear for a while, in case something was still lurking.

He watched the tree line; he swore he saw something move, out of the corner of his eye. A second later a flash of fur darted in front of his face and slammed into the ground in front of him, a flash of claws and Orpheus felt hot blood fall from his cheek. He stepped backwards and shrugged the backpack from his shoulders, holding one hand to his face and wincing. He opened his eyes and looked to the beast ahead of him.

It was a mass of matted black fur, stuck up across its body. Its face was almost wolf like, but had qualities of a monstrous rat. It bore a set of razor sharp and yellow teeth, and snarled deeply. Its right hand was dripping with blood, his blood. Orpheus shouted back to the traders to find cover and turned his attention back to the Balverine. This wasn't a normally enemy; it was faster and stronger than him and from the many wounds in its body looked like it had an incredibly high threshold for pain. On the other hand, Orpheus thought that meant it was injured.

The Balverine snarled and leapt for him, claws flying towards his face again. He side stepped and aimed for its right arm. He brought the blade down, slicing into the tough skin of the beast, the blade sunk in, but not very far. It stuck fast and was yanked from his hand as the beast flew past. He yelled and span to face the Balverine again, however now, he was un-armed. The Balverine snarled and looked to the blade in its arm. It snarled and snapped the blade in half, leaving part of the blade in itself.

Orpheus swore, there was no-way he was going to beat a Balverine without a weapon. He looked around frantically for something to use. He spotted a crossbow on the floor; he dove for it watching behind him as the Balverine stalked towards the now panicking traders. He scrambled for it and found a bolt loaded into the chamber. He spun and aimed, seeing the wound in the Balverines side. He prayed for the first time in a long while and let the thud of the action send the bolt flying forwards. He waited a few second, before he heard the thud of the bolt hit the beast. He looked up, to see the beast howling in pain, nailed to the tree behind it. He stood and brushed the blood for his face. That had been close.

He walked to the Balverine; it was struggling to pull itself from the tree, nailed there by the bolt itself. Orpheus stayed just out of reach, and motioned for the traders to move down to the swamp itself, he didn't want them being mauled by the beast again. He looked around for a weapon, a bandits open hand held a rusted iron sword, better than nothing. He turned and looked into the eyes of the beast. It snarled and glared back, Orpheus was sure he saw a hint of feeling in its eyes. He shrugged and chucked the sword at the flailing beast, it span twice before lodging deep in the beast chest, sinking through the heart. It was dead almost instantly.

Orpheus touched his face with his hand, the wound was quite deep, but he'd live. He looked down at his fingers and rubbed the blood between his fingers. He looked down at the traders by the swamp, Ricckles expression had changed completely. He was now looking in fright at Orpheus. It took a moment for him to register why, and then he realised. He had been cut. He cursed and looked for the rucksack; he threw it onto his back. He was not going to turn into one of those things.

"You've been cut!" Ricckle said and pointed to his cheek. "You know you're infected?"

Orpheus glared at him "I am aware Ricckle, which is why we are not staying here a moment longer." He sighed and felt for his sword, and remembered it had broken.

"I know of a place" Bardo said. "Somewhere we can stop for the night. They will dress our wounds and look after us. If they do that quickly enough, it will be reversed."

Orpheus turned. "But I thought Barrowfields was the only safety for at least another day?" He wasn't sure he was going to like what Bardo was going to suggest.

Bardo hesitated and looked to Ricckle who gave him a look of pure anger. "We could go to the Bordello" he said.

Orpheus cocked an eyebrow. "There's a Bordello of all things in Darkwood?" He knew Bardo must be lying. "You have to be kidding me?"

Bardo looked back blankly. "Well, if you don't believe me…then turn into Balverines…The lot of you!" He shouted.

Orpheus put up a hand for calm. "Ok, ok…we'll go." He paused for a second "Will they be able to clean us up well enough?" He felt his cheek again and looked to the third trader who was wincing slightly.

Bardo nodded and unfolded his arms. He looked to Ricckle who had his head in his hands. Orpheus suppressed a grin, even though he knew it wasn't the time, or the place. He turned and looked over into the deeper forest of Darkwood, this was impossible.

Bardo stepped to the large oaken doors. He looked back at Orpheus, bleeding slightly and looking like thunder. Ricckle just held his expression of disbelief that they were actually doing this. The third trader was twitching oddly, probably best not to ask him how he was, Bardo thought. He took the large knocker and slammed it hard against the wood, sending a booming echo around the lake. He looked round and mouthed 'sorry' to Orpheus, they had just escaped from a large band of bandits, and another knock like that may have spelled their doom. He turned back to the door and saw a small wooden slat open and two heavily made-up eyes look back at him.

"Your business" The voice said. It was heavily accented, something Bardo had heard before, but none of the others.

Orpheus stepped forwards and put a hand on Bardo's shoulder. "We seek some attention for our wounds. We are in desperate situations." He was surprised he was actually asking her for this.

Her eyes looked through the slat and to Orpheus's cut and the other trader shuddering with ticks. "Ok" She said, and closed the slat with a slam. A few moments later the door slowly slid open, and revealed the scene before them.

The entire place looked so different on contrast to Darkwood behind them. The grass was a bright green, pools of clear blue water resided on the sides of the paths. Large bushes of wild flowers bloomed over the sides of the path, and at the top sat a large deep red house, sounds of laughter and joking coming from within. They all walked inside and heard the door close behind them with a muffled thud. Orpheus looked round, the woman was devastatingly beautiful. He had to take his eyes off of her as he heard a voice calling his name.

Bardo shook his shoulder. "Orpheus, we need to see Madame Minzche as soon as possible, she can clean up our wounds and offer us…what we need." He hesitated for a second.

Orpheus cocked his eyebrow again. "Ok, well lead the way Bardo." He looked round at Ricckle, a married man. He was muttering about sinners and twisting the ring on his finger, looking around and closing his eyes at the woman who had let them in.

They were led up the hill by Bardo, to the large oaken house. He stepped inside the door and looked around, before gesturing to someone and turning to face them, smiling weakly and sweating slightly. A middle aged lady, with large flashing eye and a tall head of red hair stepped onto the porch and addressed them.

"How are these?" She said, pointing to the two traders and Orpheus and addressing Bardo. Her accent too was heavily thickened and laced with a seductive tone that had slightly faded with age.

"They" – piped up Bardo – "are my good friends, and they need help with their wounds, and perhaps a tipple?" He motioned a drinking action.

She laughed and kissed him on the cheek making him blush "Of course!" She yelled "Any friend of Bardo's is a friend of mine!"

Orpheus didn't know what to think, this was possibly the strangest day of his life.

**Chapter XIV – A Fresh Start**

Faustus jumped from the back of the wagon and landed heavily on the pine-needle strewn floor. He looked around at the large trees that bore down on him from all sides. The paths themselves were narrow and bumpy; he had lost count of the number of times he had been awoken as he dozed on his journey from the large Cullis Gate to the outer gate of Knothole Glade. He stretched and pulled his bag from the back of the wagon, and rubbed his eyes. He couldn't wait to get some well earned rest in his new home, but something was very odd about the way he was feeling. He had such memories of Bowerstone, not always fond ones, but memories none the less. It felt like he had left a part of himself behind.

He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. This was no way to think, he had a job to get on with soon and for now he had to get used to things as they were and find his way around. He opened them again and strode confidently to the large wooden doors that barred entry to the inner settlement of Knothole. He stopped at a small cut window, small bars of metal meshing the gap. He leaned forwards and knocked on the wood.

A guard, roughly the same build and height as him came to the gap and spat out his pipe weed on the floor. "Your business?" He said gruffly. Faustus couldn't help noticing the mass of scars and tattoos across his face, this really was something completely new for him.

"I'm the new guard replacement" Faustus said as confidently as he could. "The Guild sent me." He knew that that would calm any worries the fellow guard had with him coming here. After all, he could have been a bandit in disguise.

"Ah right" he said "Sure…come on in". The guard took one last look at him, before opening the smaller door in the wooden gate, it creaked open slowly. He motioned for Faustus to enter.

"Thanks" said Faustus, flashing a smile at the guard. "The names Faustus by the way" He stuck out a hand for the guard to shake.

The guard hesitated and took him, shaking it roughly "I'm Ghrom, nice to have you here mate, we could use the extra bodies." He closed the door behind him and motioned for Faustus to follow him.

Faustus took a second to look around; the houses were made superbly, finely crafted works of art. He remembered back to his house in Bowerstone, it was nothing as good as these. He took his eyes from them and looked to a large statue centred in the middle of the town. He was sure he had seen it before, but he couldn't place it.

He turned to Ghrom. "Why do you need extra bodies?" His eyes began to wander again, moving to the shops besides them. A black smith was hammering away on a sheet of metal, while a man covered in intricate tattoos was making a smaller weedier man howl in pain as he painted his body with inks.

"Balverines" Ghrom said, almost without flinching at the sound of the name. "We have a large pack that runs rampant through these woods led by a larger one, the White Balverine." He paused. "But, you don't need to know about that yet. We'll take you to see Josef the Chieftain and get you acquainted." He smiled, his scars wrinkled on his face "And then I'll show you your lodgings."

They carried on up a large hill; Faustus looked to his left and gazed into a large open tavern. The barkeep was chatting with one of the barmaids and kept dropping his flagons. He was certainly more of a charmer than Archibald had been. They were both silent until they reached the very top of the hill, and stood before a large oaken house that dominated the surroundings. It was patterned all over with intricate details, leaves and woodland scenes carved into its out surface, as if it was part of the woodland itself. Faustus looked to Ghrom who motioned for him to stay where he was. Ghrom moved up the few steps and rapped loudly on the large door.

A loud banging issued from within the building, followed by a chorus of shouting between a man and a woman, Faustus didn't quite know what to make of it and looked to Ghrom, but he was forcing back a smile. Eventually the shouting stopped and a man, half-dressed in green slacks stepped onto the balcony above them and leant over the side.

"What on Avo's green earth do you think you're doin' Ghrom waking me on today of all days!" The man was a portly fellow, covered in tattoos the same as Ghrom and everyone else Faustus had seen here, as well as this he had a thick goatee beard which was twisted and knotted, tied with small leathers. His hair was long, and ruffled as if he had just woken.

"The new guard we were assigned by the Guild Chieftain" Ghrom said, walking backwards down the steps so he could look up at the balcony. "The one sent as your bodyguard."

Faustus took his information with surprise, he want aware he'd been assigned to the Chieftain himself. He was about to say there must have been a mistake, but the Chieftain grumbled on.

"Fine!" He shouted, scratching his behind unceremoniously and looking behind him. "I'll talk to you later" he said looking down at Faustus and giving him the once over. "I got business to attend to first" He looked back into the house and mouthed something, Faustus couldn't catch it. He turned back to them, cocked his eyebrow and smirked before nodding to Ghrom and going back inside, closing the door behind him with a slam.

"And that" – said Ghrom – "was our glorious Chieftain Josef. He turned and put and hand on Faustus's shoulder. "Never you mind about him for now though, I've gotta show you to your lodgings." He winked and nodded for Faustus to follow "I think you'll be pleasantly surprised."

Faustus couldn't imagine what he meant by that, he had expected to be in barracks or guards stations, but now with the news of him being a full bodyguard of the Chieftain he wasn't sure what to expect. They walked back down the hill, except this time they didn't reach the first level. They stopped in front of a large house right next to the tavern itself. It was a humble home, built like all the others, but was grander than most. He was sure this wasn't for him.

"Welcome to your new home" Ghrom said, smiling at the look of puzzlement on Faustus' face.

"This cant be right" Faustus said "I was sent here as a normal guard, not as a bodyguard for the Chieftain." He turned and looked at Ghrom.

"It is mate" He took a ring of keys from his belt and walked up the steps to the front door. "The guild man who came here said that you were to replace the guy we lost last week, said no more than that". He found the key he needed and slid it into the lock, twisting it and opening the front door.

Faustus was amazed, he would have thought the Guild would have wanted him to lie low, but, then again, maybe they had more plans for him than he knew. He shrugged and walked up the steps and into the house. He turned as Ghrom tapped him on the shoulder.

"You'll be needing these" he said and dropped a set of two keys in his hand. "Ones for this door, the others for something the Chief will explain later." He turned and walked down the steps. "I'll leave you to it" he shouted and jogged back down the hill to the gatehouse below.

Faustus turned and took in the interior of his new home for the first time. It was different in so many ways from what he was used to seeing. There were no beds to speak of, but large mats lain out on the floor, with huge quilts over the top. On the back wall was a large tapestry, depicting a battle with some strange animal Faustus had never seen. He shook his bag from his shoulder and un-clasped his sword from his belt. He took a moment to take it all in, and then began to unpack his things, putting clothes and spare uniforms in a large green chest. Soon, he had done it all, and for the first time, he felt at home.

He turned as he heard a knock on the door. Faustus looked over his shoulder and saw a woman standing in the doorway. "Hi" he said "I'm new here, the names Faustus". He walked towards her and held out a hand.

The woman was quite pretty; her hair was tied back in a ponytail, showing off a very angular and striking face. She didn't look older than eighteen. She took his hand and shook it momentarily. "Nice to have you in the neighbourhood" she said and turned to look up at the Chieftains house.

"Oh" Faustus said "Is he your father?" He cracked his neck slightly; sleeping rough on a wagon had done nothing for his back.

She sighed "Yes, unfortunately."

Faustus was about to ask why but she cut across him.

"You'll be seeing a lot more of me I suppose" she said "You'll get to meet my wonderful brothers" She hid more than a hint of sarcasm in her voice as she said it. She turned and walked down the steps "Nice to have met you Faustus" She walked up the pathway towards her house.

Faustus smiled and walked back inside, closing the door behind him. 'No more interruptions' he thought. He took his cap from his head and lay down on the quilted beds that lay on the floor. He felt an overwhelming sensation of comfort as he found the niche in the bedding and relaxed into it. He breathed out and took his glasses from his nose, perching them on a chest of drawers near by. This wasn't going to be so bad after all.

**Chapter XV – Homecoming**

The time they spent at the Bordello was somewhat of a blur to Orpheus; he had sat in silence in the corner and let a woman bandage his wounds, while watching Bardo and Ricckle go crazy, but in very different ways. The other trader, whom Orpheus was still yet to know the name of had disappeared into a separate room and not come out. He presumed he had died of his wounds; after all, he hadn't changed. It had been a strange night, sleeping in a bed for once rather than in the wild. This really was a haven in the middle of woodland full of evil and malice, and yet there was still something strange about it.

The old man who ran the place seemed to horde the women to himself, and even now Madame Minzche was scared of him. She had had a quiet word with Bardo before they left, and he had promised her something. Orpheus had heard no more than that. After a few minutes they were ready to go again, they were all laden with their gear and prepared to head back into the wild of Darkwood. However, Orpheus was more confident now; he had a weapon by his side now. As the large Oaken door closed behind them he looked down at the dull black blade sheathed at his side. It glowed with red runes, Orpheus was sure it was a tainted blade, but for the moment he was glad to have cold Obsidian by his side. He looked back at Ricckle and Bardo and moved off through the shallow waters of Darkwood Lake, it wouldn't be long before they were out of this Avo forsaken place.

They were travelling for only a few hours when they reached the last ridge towards Barrowfields. Orpheus led the way, pushing through the thick reeds that lined the flooded riverbanks and made his way to a rickety fence and grabbed it tight. The current was stronger than they had imagined, he leant back and pulled Ricckle and Bardo onto the bank and then hauled himself onto the darkened grass himself. He looked up at Bardo and smiled.

"We're nearly out of here" he said and pushed himself to his feet. He checked his gear and made sure everything was in place.

He felt a tapping on his shoulder and looked to see a scared expression plastered across Bardo's face. He looked in the direction of his stares and froze, it was far from over. Ahead of them towered a large mound of living earth. The Earth Trolls were notorious in this region and Orpheus had hoped he would not run into one, but it seemed their luck was running out. The gigantic beast walked from side to side watching a cave entrance, the one they needed to take to get out of this Skorm ridden place. However, something was strange about it, a haze hung around its head, a purple mist of some sorts. He tried to remember where it had been seen before, but nothing came to mind.

He forgot the mist and held out and arm for Ricckle and Bardo to stay behind him. He looked at them sternly and nodded to a broken tree trunk nearby. They scuttled for the cover and crouched low. He slipped the rucksack from his back and laid it down carefully, slowly drawing his new weapon from its sheath. It hummed as he did; the runes along its blade glowing brightly like embers. He ducked and crept closer, making for a desecrated tree that stood in the large open space before the cave entrance. He pressed himself against the wood and peered round towards the troll. It lumbered slowly still, paying little or no attention to the trail of mud he had left, it was obviously something of insignificance to it.

Orpheus paused for a second, how was he going to beat it? He looked around at his surroundings, but could see nothing that he could make use of. This would be a one on one fight against a superior opponent. He remembered his training, using his enemies' weaknesses to his advantage. But, a Troll had so many strengths it seemed impossible to find a chink. He closed his eyes for a second before breathing out slowly and spinning from his cover. The troll noticed him almost instantly.

It rounded on him and roared, Orpheus felt his head scream with pain as the deep bellowing roar rushed over him. He grimaced and ran forwards. The troll did what came natural and heaved a sizeable chunk of the ground beneath it and flung it with incredible strength towards the insignificant human. It flew towards Orpheus at speed, but as it closed he whispered quickly and he darted to the side in a flash of motion, this wasn't going to last forever.

He neared, dodging the chunks of earth as they impacted in the ground and exploded in showers of rock and dirt. The troll changed its motions now, bringing down its hands into the air to slam down on where he was going to end up, and the force of his running propelling him towards the fists of the Troll. Orpheus watched as the fists slammed down, and deftly dodged to the side again, grabbing the trolls arm and swinging himself onto its tree trunk like limbs. He swayed for a second on the earthen arms as they rose again trying to shake him off, but he held firm.

Orpheus felt his muscles tug in protest as he swayed out of the way of a flying troll fist and land on the back of the beast. He latched a hand onto the rocky back of the troll and made himself secure, this was going to have to be his finish, there was no way for him to dodge now. He grasped his long Obsidian blade in his hand and twisted to point blade down. He roared and pulled it back, before driving it down through the top of the troll's gargantuan head. As he did the troll's fist connected with him and he felt a sharp pain and a tug as he flew from the back of the monster and slammed into the wet ground. He looked back and saw the troll falter for a second before collapsing to the ground, dead.

Ricckle and Bardo sprinted up the hill and knelt beside him. "Are you alright mate?" Bardo said, looking down to where Orpheus had been hit.

Orpheus looked down at the side of his body, it was indeed softer than usual and he had been winded, but the chain mail seemed to have absorbed the impact, as well as the death blow to the troll itself. He smiled and nodded to Bardo.

He turned to Ricckle. "Fetch my sword for me." He gestured to the trolls head and the still glowing blade embedded in it. He stood as well as he could and rested on Bardo's shoulder.

Ricckle dashed to the troll and tugged the sword out, it had gone deeper than Orpheus had thought, and the blade was indeed something to be marvelled. He took it from Ricckle and sheathed it once more.

"Ok, now we get the hell out of here" he said and turned to the cave. "You're going to have to help me walk" He leant harder on Bardo and let him take the strain.

Together the three of them made their way slowly past the body of the troll and into the short passage that would lead to the bright meadows of Barrowfields.

The tunnel was as short as he hoped, and they were suddenly were hit by rays of sunshine as the tunnel turned to face the surface. They scrambled up the last few stone steps and looked up as they stumbled into the sunlight; it had been so long since they had felt truly safe. A trader ran down the road towards them and yelled for help. Several others joined him and led them down, across an ornate bridge to a large campsite located near the side of a fast flowing river. Orpheus collapsed in a wooden seat and watched as Ricckle and Bardo related the tale of their adventure to the other traders.

A hand tapped him on the shoulder and he turned, the sun blinded him slightly. The trader from before handed him a small bag of gold coins and smiled before returning to the tales. Orpheus had completely forgotten about the reward he was meant to get. He was glad to be alive, and not only that, not a Balverine. His peace however, was short lived as he felt the hot sensation in his trousers once more. This time there was no mistaking it; he pulled it out and turned it over in his hand to reveal the Guild Seal.

"Well done lad" The voice of the Guildmaster boomed out. "You seem to have made quite an impact on the traders of Barrowfields." The voice paused "But Maze requires an audience with you, in Oakvale, just down the path…time to go home lad". The voice faded and disappeared, the seal going slowly cold again.

Orpheus stood and glanced back at Ricckle and Bardo, they would no doubt be fine without him for a few hours. He looked across the meadow and saw the small archway with a signpost sticking in the ground, Oakvale. He smiled and limped forwards, clutching his side still, he had to see his home again.

The road seemed just as familiar as they had when he had been here nineteen years ago. The same paddock lay to the side of him, the same scarecrow glared back at him with its hollow eyes. He looked up and saw the large bridge still intact, hanging over the small valley like path that cut through the rock. He smiled and walked on down the path until he started to see the first shops appear from the sunlight. He looked round, they had changed slightly. A new sign hung over the blacksmiths and a burly gentleman had replaced the once thin man who had worked there when he had been a boy. He realised that he was most likely no longer with them, a victim of the raid all those years ago.

He was about to walk on to the tavern ahead of him when he heard a voice behind him shouting his name. He turned and saw a young woman running towards him, waving. She closed on him and threw her arms around him, hugging him. Orpheus had no idea what was going on.

"Oooh!" She exclaimed. "Haven't seen you for so long, I didn't think we'd meet again after that night1" She let go of him and beamed at Orpheus.

Orpheus politely grinned but it couldn't hide the look of puzzlement on his face.

She smiled still. "Don't you remember me?" She laughed. "You helped me find my bear Rosie before the attack happened". She smiled at him again and clasped his gauntleted hand.

Orpheus faintly remembered a girl on the steps of the very tavern in front of him, but his mind was slowly filled with the images of the burning town…and his father.

The woman hugged him again and smiled. "Don't worry, I didn't expect you to remember." She walked past him and led him towards the tavern entrance. "My mother and I moved to Bowerstone after the fire, I came back here for some peace and quiet". She led him up the steps and into the tavern, it was almost empty.

Orpheus let her seat him in a chair and slowly took off his mail gloves. He smiled but did not speak; he didn't know what to say to someone he hadn't seen in so very long, let alone a survivor of the bandit raid. His awkward silence however didn't last long, she turned and skipped to the bar, leaning over it and talking to the barkeep in feverish conversation, Orpheus realised he had never learnt her name.

"So, your back at last lad" A voice from behind him echoed.

Orpheus turned slowly and looked into the face of Maze standing behind him.

"I thought you'd be too famous to be seen in a place like this" Maze took a seat next to him at the table and settled back in the oaken chair.

Orpheus forced his next sentence, through the pain in his side. "I always wanted to come home Maze, you knew that." He looked up at the woman by the bar.

"Someone important?" Maze said and smiled at him, before leaning forwards and not allowing him to reply. "I have some news for you, on your sister."

Orpheus' attention wavered from the woman at the bar and he found his attention locked on Maze. This was something he had not expected.

"No-one has seen her I'm afraid. But I do have another solution for you." He sat back again and fiddled with his long cloak. "There is a seeress that lives not far from here, in the company of Twinblade; she may be able to locate your sister for you." He waited to gauge Orpheus' reaction.

"Twinblade, the bandit king?" Orpheus said, he remembered him from the Guild archives.

"The very same" said Maze. "He was a great hero once, but fell from grace, formed the bandit clans of this region." He leant in so Orpheus would be the only one to hear. "I always thought he may have been responsible for the attack on Oakvale." He leant back, and again waited for Orpheus to speak.

"Do you really think it was him?" Orpheus felt a surge of rage flow through his body, he tried to repress it but it seemed impossible.

"I do lad, but it won't be easy, you'll need a disguise. Twinblade has been getting more and more cautious with his clan nowadays." He scratched his stubble. "But I'm sure you'll think of something."

Orpheus turned and looked back to the woman at the bar; this was something he had always wanted. To come home and feel like normal again. But, for some reason he felt empty, he needed to find his family. The woman turned and came back to the table, two large flagons of ale in her hands. She slowed when she saw Maze.

Maze turned and looked at her "Oh" he said "I'm just leaving my dear" He stood and nodded to Orpheus. "Return to the Guild when your ready, we will give you the details of your quest." He turned and walked from the tavern and up the road.

"Who was that?" the woman said taking a seat near Orpheus and moving it closer to him.

Orpheus turned, completely lost in his thought for a second. "No-one, a friend" He said and took the ale she offered him. He took a deep drink from it and enjoyed the taste of good quality ale for once. He smiled at the woman and relaxed slightly "So" he said "You never told me your name".

**Chapter XVI – Into the Lions Den**

_Two days later…the road to Twinblade camp._

Orpheus crept through the bushes that lined the Cliffside path. He could see the bandits ahead of him, talking about something and punching each other on the arm. They had paid no attention what so ever to the hero skulking in the foliage and making his way past them. He flattened himself against the rock and pressed slowly between a thin gap, his chest threatened to burst as he squeezed through the gap, but to his thanks he managed to get through. He found a shadier spot and hunkered down beneath the cover of the long grass. Orpheus looked to his left, the large gate was open, but two guards were perched atop its towers on either side. He looked back to his right; the bandits were still deep in conversation. He would have to wait and watch to see what they did.

He took the moments of brief respite to remember the day before. It turned out her name was Emily, and she had only just arrived back in Oakvale this same week. She had taken a house where her old one used to stand and made it her own. She had shown him around, it had been a pleasant surprise. The house was made up like a proper home, with a roaring fire and situated where the sun would filter through in the dying hours of the day and send beams of light flickering across the rooms. He had, however declined her invitation to stay with her; he did not want to cause more trouble than he needed too. He had a job to do, and relaxation would come later.

His brief transportation back to the Guild had been just that, brief. The Guildmaster had reiterated everything that Maze had told him, and persuaded him to try and find suitable attire for infiltrating the bandit outpost. He wanted to finish this more than anything he had done before in his short time as a hero, not just for his family, but for the first time, glory. He had been given a round of applause when he had told a few of the younger apprentices what he was planning on doing, and it had gone to his head. This was something that would get him noticed. Still, he had returned to Oakvale post haste and left his armour and supplies at the tavern, pulling on normal clothing for this particular trip. He didn't fancy leaving behind his chain mail and keeping his bandit attire.

Orpheus waited for what seemed hours, until eventually the bandits started to drift back through the gate, this was going to be his only chance. As the group of conversationalist bandits had moved back to the gate he noticed that the watchers on the towers had turned their backs to open the gates large doors. He skulked in behind them and pulled his smaller shirt up over the bottom half of his face, he wouldn't pass as a bandit up close, but for now it would do for avoiding the eyes of the bandits above him.

A wave of relief had spread through him when he had heard the gate close behind him; he let out a sigh and instantly regretted it. The bandits in front of him stopped and turned round, looks of mild amusement and glee on their faces vanishing to replace looks of anger.

"Who" said the one "The hell are you?" He pointed a rusty blade at Orpheus and walked forwards.

Orpheus tried to think of a way round this. "Err…" he paused "I'm the new recruit." He was pushing his luck and he knew it.

"What?" said another "Then where's your bandit gear?" He looked Orpheus up and down and raised an eyebrow.

Orpheus moved a hand to his sword and grasped the hilt. This was going to be nasty.

The third bandit noticed this and chuckled deeply. "Look lads, I think we got us an intruder." He pulled his axe from his back and twirled it in his grip, smirking.

Orpheus drew his sword; this wasn't going to get nasty. It was going to get bloody.

_Ten minutes later…_

Orpheus tightened the straps on his new regalia and adjusted the cap over the top half of his face. He pulled the back taunt and made sure it was all in working order. The boots were way too small, but he would have to make do with what he'd got. He looked down at the bandit knocked out on the floor, he would have killed him but then the blood would have made the clothes useless. Orpheus turned and looked back down the road; the bodies were everywhere, some still moaning with pain. He felt a grim satisfaction at what he had done, those bandits would think twice about attacking anywhere for a long time. He strapped his sword to his belt and made for the large hill that led to the inner area of Twinblades camp. As Maze had predicted, he had found a way of getting a disguise, it had just taken the lives of twenty or so bandits to get it.

He walked up the hill and stumbled as he reached the top. He looked down and saw a wound he had not noticed on the side of his leg. 'Damn' he thought, he was sure he had avoided all of the bandit's blows, but it seemed as if one had caught him off guard. He checked it, no bleeding, it was only a light wound, and he'd survive. He walked on until he reached a large gate, similar to the first, but outside stood a bandit in full uniform, skull rack on back signifying his status within the clan. Orpheus walked up to him and adjusted the straps on his leather armour as the man noticed him.

"Nice bandit gear" he said, standing up straight from the wall and spitting on the ground. "You wanna come in?" He turned and went to open the gate.

Orpheus didn't complain, or say anything, this was easier than he had expected, and he had a voice down and everything.

"Once your inside feel free to change out of those mate, we only need them for raiding" He motioned for him to go down the hill to the large fire, surrounded by at least two dozen bandits.

Orpheus nodded his thanks and walked down the hill, shocked at how easy it had been for him to gain entry. But, then he thought something harrowing. What if this was a trap, this could be the seeress's doing. He clasped a hand over the hilt of his sword and loosened the catch; he wasn't going to be stabbed in the back, not when he was this close. He reached the fire and slowly wound his way through the mass of bandits until he could see the next door he had to get through. It was high on a ridge, guarded by two more of those bandits with flags and skull poles attached to their backs. He pushed his way through but was pulled back by someone, into the confines of a small covered bar area. Orpheus span and went to slide the sword from his sheath.

The man who had grabbed him pulled down his mask and stepped back "Woh man, calm down, I'm here to help you." He smiled and looked around to see if anyone had seen them enter the small enclosed area.

Orpheus slid the sword back into its sheath. "Who are you?" He leant forwards, but it didn't really matter, the shouts of the bandits would mask their voices anyway.

"The names Blain" He said and reached into his pocket. "Take this; it will get you past the next set of guards." He handed a small wooden seal to Orpheus and slowly backed away towards the camp fire once more. "Good luck" he said, before turning and pretending to dance through the mass of people to the other side.

Orpheus didn't know what on earth had just happened; he looked down at the small seal. He didn't know why but he trusted this mans advice; he seemed to well cut to be a bandit. Orpheus pocketed it and made his way towards the doors, again pushing through the mass of people that had gathered around the fire. He paced up the hill until he reached the two large, burly guards. They looked down at him and sniggered.

"Got your pass?" One said and stepped forwards holding a large cleaver in hand.

Orpheus reached into his pocket and pulled out the small wooden seal. He handed it to the guard. The guard in turn looked it over for a minute before handing it back to him and stepping aside, muttering something about 'runts being let into the higher positions'. Orpheus was just relieved that yet again he had been able to bypass the guards. But, all thanks to this Blain, he was sure he had heard his name somewhere before.

He walked through the gates and down the other side of the hill. This area was much quieter, and darker than the first. Orpheus walked past crowded tents where men sat in whispers, swords in hand. He passed a large fighting ring lain in the sand and saw a large man deck a fellow with a single blow to the face, he winced and carried on. As he did, he passed a set of cages situated to the side of the main path. He heard a woman screams and hesitated. He looked up at the next gate, it was close. He waited again and looked back to the cages. He couldn't leave someone in harm, how ever much he wanted to get to Twinblade.

He cursed and told himself this wouldn't be a good idea, but took the left path up the smaller hill until he looked on the scene before him. Four cages were lined against the stone walls, each containing nothing bar one which held two women, who screamed at the top of their voices as a large bandit tried to poke them with his sword through the bars. One saw Orpheus and he held his finger to his lips for her to be quiet. He was aware that he still looked like a bandit, but she seemed to understand. He crept up behind the larger man, and unsheathed his sword. The women stopped screaming, and the larger bandit heard Orpheus boot crunch on a twig beneath his feet, he turned and stared in surprise at the man before him.

Orpheus didn't waste a second. He struck upwards, sliding the blade into his chest and killing him instantly, blood seeped down the blade and dropped to the sandy floor. Orpheus twisted the weapon and let the bandit fall, collapsed in a heap. Orpheus took his mask off and let it fall to the floor, he wouldn't need that now. He searched the body of the bandit and found a set of keys; he stood and put them into the lock on the cage doors, twisting each one before it finally clicked.

"Thank you, thank you so much" The one said and stepped from the cage, stepping over the dead bandit.

The second stepped out too and kissed Orpheus on the cheek. "We don't know who you are, but you've saved our lives" She turned to the woman next to her "we are in your dept".

An idea sprang to Orpheus' mind. "Well" he said "You can repay it here and now if you help me get through those gates". He didn't know if it would work, but it was worth a try.

A few minutes later, the two women were running as fast as they could back to the first area of the encampment. Orpheus looked up at the gate, it had worked. A large number of bandits ran from the enclosure ahead of him and chased after the women, he looked again, and the guards were going too, caught up in the mayhem. Orpheus saw his chance, he crawled up the rocky wall and pushed his way through a thicket of brambles before getting behind the crowd of bandits, he slipped in without anyone knowing.

He smiled and hoped the women would be alright, before concentrating back on what he was meant to do here. But, as he turned a fist flew towards his face, it took a split second but he felt the world spin and he was consumed by darkness. All he heard was the shouting of a bandit as he felt his body dragged for a second, and then he went dark once more.

Orpheus felt cold water drench his face, he spluttered as he was awoken by the jeering of bandits. He looked up, and felt something warm coming from his nose, it was bleeding profusely. He went to wiggle it, but it was too painful, it was broken badly. Two sets of arms lifted him up and stood him; he swayed but caught his balance, and groped for his sword. He couldn't feel it. Suddenly the bandits stopped talking and stepped away from him. Orpheus swayed again and stumbled forwards.

A deep croaky voice boomed out over the ground in from of him, he couldn't make it out but something huge was stalking towards him. "Welcome hero" – it said – "My blades have been dying to meet you".

**Chapter XVII – Revenge**

Orpheus swayed and shook his head; he stared forwards and slicked the blood and water from his eyes, pushing his hair back so he could see. He wasn't expecting this. A huge circle of around thirty bandits had hemmed him in a large ring, and ahead of him stood a man he knew must be Twinblade. The giant brute was almost twice his size, and hulked with layers of rippling tattooed muscles. His face bore a look of sheer delight at his little catch; he clashed his blades together and let them slide down each other, grating the metal.

"She said a Guild puppet would come" He said, approaching him and dragging his blades through the ground. "And now I'll kill one more hero…and add you to my collection".

Orpheus looked down at his belt, and the several skulls woven onto the thick rope. He looked around, there was no where to run. He didn't even have a weapon. He backed towards the exit, but bandits behind him pushed him forwards again, he stumbled and landed in the dirt. His nose hit the ground, and he felt a surge of heated pain flow through his face.

"But" Twinblade said. "Wouldn't be fair if we didn't give you a weapon would it?"

Orpheus heard him moving and then the sound of a sword clatter to the ground nearby. He spat the dirt from his face and pushed himself to his feet, glaring at Twinblade who was smirking. He reached down and grabbed the sword, it was rusted…almost too rusted to use, but he would make do. He was going to make him pay, for everything.

Orpheus winced with the pain "You want to fight…I'll give you a fight." He swung the swords around in his hand and entered a fighting stance.

Twinblade laughed out loud. "Fancy, little hero, but you'll be no match for me." He sneered and charged forwards, lifting his blades in a wide arch.

Orpheus ducked the first blade and nicked at Twinblades side, he looked up as he did to see if it had any effect, but the hulk of a man acted like nothing had happened. The second blade came down towards his head; he barely ducked it in time, the blade still grazing his forehead as he felt a burn of pain. He stumbled backwards and readied himself again, blinking with the blood now dripping into his eyes. He didn't stand a chance, but something burning inside him made him carry on.

He rushed at Twinblade, and took him by surprise. The huge man lumbered slowly as Orpheus lunged at his side and stabbed into his hand, he at least needed to make sure he wasn't fighting those two blades. He could dodge the first one as many times as he wanted, but due to his weakness the second always caught him off guard. Orpheus felt relief flow through him as he watched Twinblade drop one of the mighty weapons with a clatter and grab his now bleeding hand.

Orpheus took the opportunity and lunged for the fallen blade, he grabbed it and rolled away, lifting it in two arms, the weight was enormous but he managed to raise it too fighting level. He would need to be quick and sudden, there was no way he could fight a drawn out battle with this thing. Twinblade roared and charged again, but this time Orpheus was ready. He side-stepped the charging behemoth and let him fly past him. In one mighty swing he brought the giant blade round above his head and sliced for Twinblades back, he felt the blade cut flesh and the roar of pain from the bandit chieftain. Orpheus dragged it down his back, cutting a blood swath through his muscles and skin before it ended in the ground, dripping with blood.

He relaxed; the bandits around him fell silent. He looked to Twinblade and saw the man bent double on the floor breathing heavily, the cut dripping blood. He turned his head and stared at Orpheus.

"Finish me, I'd do the same for you boy!" He spat blood and looked back at the ground, he had been beaten in combat and he deserved to die.

Orpheus felt the grip the sword in his hand. A wave of conflicting emotions flashed before his eyes, anger, contempt, joy at finally avenging his family. But, it was all conquered by a need for revenge. He felt his blood boil and looked down at the pathetic man hunched on the floor. He looked down at his sword, the blood still glinting from its surface; he had to do this, for his father. He felt a smile, something sinister wash over his face and he lifted the blade onto his shoulder, this man would pay for ruining his life. He clutched the hilt in two hands and lowered it slowly to Twinblades neck; he lined it up, felt the blood pump through his veins and pulled it up sharply.

Suddenly as he was about to bring it down, a voice from the side of the circle broke through the silence and he stopped in mid-swing.

"Welcome little brother…I see you've been training well." A young woman pushed her way through the line of bandits and stood before him. Orpheus dropped his blade to the ground, it couldn't be?

Orpheus stared at her, it was unmistakable. "Theresa?" He said, slowly forgetting everything in a sudden flash of memory. He remembered them together in the field, the flames, the killing, everything flooded his memory.

"I thought you'd recognise your own sister…I have much to tell you." She walked closer and put a hand on his shoulder.

Twinblade looked up pleadingly. "Teresa, what is this?" He strained and moved forwards, holding his back and feeling the wound.

"My time here is over Twinblade, I cannot help you anymore." She placed a hand on Twinblades head and turned to Orpheus. "Come with me…" She put a hand on his shoulder and led him down a thin path towards the cliff side.

She told him everything, all about the bandit raid, her and his mother being tortured as his father had died besides them. The way they had taken his mother off into the woods, and how the leader of these men had cut out her eyes and scarred her for life. All the time she cleaned his wounds, while Orpheus looked on stunned and in shock. She told him about growing up alone, and in the dark, how Twinblade had found her and taken her in. Only then had she found out about her power, her bloodline, and the reason that Oakvale had been burnt to the ground. She told him no more but turned to him and spoke softly.

"Would you have killed him brother?" She seemed to be thinking at the same time.

Orpheus turned and looked down at the ground. "Yes" He felt ashamed to say it now; he would have destroyed his honour had he killed an injured man. He had wanted to kill him so much though, enact his revenge.

"You showed more courage in not killing him Orpheus, but you know Twinblade will not rest until he has come after you?" She stood up and picked him up by the hand, she was surprisingly strong.

Orpheus nodded "I'll be ready". He looked to his side and realised he didn't have his sword.

Teresa looked down and picked it from behind her in her bundle of clothes and ointments. "Don't lose this again brother, it will prove invaluable". She waited "But now I have another gift for you".

Orpheus took the sword and waited, he didn't know what to expect. He stepped back as Teresa came nearer, he wasn't sure he wanted this gift. She took his hand and put the other on his chest, above his heart. He felt a warm sensation and a mystical green energy flowed from her fingers and into his body. He felt as if he had been thrown in ice water all of a sudden and he collapsed to the ground, gasping for air.

"Our blood is more powerful that you imagine brother, take it and use it wisely" She turned and walked away down the path.

Orpheus wanted to ask after her, but his voice wouldn't come, he was to busy nursing his ice cold chest. He grasped his heart and felt it beating faster, he didn't know what she had done, but it was feeling good. He thought back to the moment before he had wanted to kill Twinblade, he couldn't let that happen again, and he would do as Teresa had said, he would conserve his power, he needed to keep himself in check, he was in danger of falling from the edge, dangerously close.

**Chapter XVIII – The Trouble with Bandits…**

Blain landed heavily, tripping from the Cullis Gate and landing in a heap on the floor. He never did like this mode of travel. Briar stepped down beside him and pushed him over onto his back with her foot.

"Still alive?" She smirked and walked towards the massive oaken doors that guarded the village of Knothole. She walked to the door and rapped her knuckles on the timber.

Blain stood and brushed the pine needles from him, before straightening up and going to join Briar. It wasn't his fault that the man who had trained him how to use a Cullis Gate had sent in through upside down on his first attempt and meant that now he never knew how to do it properly. He was never prepared for that sensation of landing on the other side, it was most unsettling. He stood next to Briar and waited for the small shutter to slide open.

"What you want?" A voice said from the other side as it slid back slowly, revealing a gruff faced guard, cap low over his brow. "We aint been told we had any visitors." He went to close the shutter again.

Briar spoke up just as he did. "We came from the Guild; you need help with some bandits that have been plaguing the town?" She knew this would eventually penetrate his somewhat thick skull and register as words.

Blain looked to her, and the tired expression on her face. He knew she didn't want to be here. She had been absorbed in her books for a few weeks now, looking for something the Guildmaster himself had assigned her too. He had not asked what it was, preferring to let her tell him these things in her own time. After all, he didn't want to cause pointless argument over something like this. He looked back at the Guard who had now realised what was going on and unlocked the smaller oaken door to let them through. The guard talked to them for a few seconds, explaining the situation in a drunken slur before leading them un-easily up the small hill to a large house situated just above the tavern, which was, strange for Knothole Glade, empty.

The guard left them and walked down the hill holding his head. Briar sighed and knocked on the door ahead of them. She hoped the person who lived here would be more of a helping hand than the guard had been. She looked round at Blain.

"Why did we have to come and do this annoyance of a quest" She scuffed her feet in the dirt.

Blain looked at her and scratched his head. "It's a momentary change Briar, after all its good to get out of the library once in a while." He patted her on the shoulder. "This might turn out to be more interesting than you thought". He winked and went back to staring at the door.

After a few seconds of silence they heard something moving on the other side and the door creaked open. A large man, dressed in modest attire opened the door and smiled at the two of them.

Faustus looked at the two heroes standing in his doorway. "Ahh you here, don't worry I wont be a second." He turned and ushered the inside. "I'll tell you want you need to know and we'll be out of here to deal with this." He went to his small table at the back of the house and slipped a sword around his waist before grabbing for a crossbow and a satchel of bolts.

Briar sat down on a small wooden chair. "What seems to be the bandit problem?" She said, crossing her arms and glaring at him from behind her glasses.

"They've holed themselves up in the woods just outside of the village" Faustus said, making sure his gear was secure. "We need to either try and talk to them and move them from the land, or if the worst comes to the worst kill their leader."

Blain frowned. "Kill their leader? That might be a little hard in a camp full of bandits." He didn't understand how the man could be taking this so casually.

"It's a simple matter of seeking him out and doing it quietly." He looked at Blain's crossbow. "I and"–he paused gesturing to Briar–"will deal with the negotiations while you sneak into the camp and find the leader. Then, it we cannot deal with the situation you can take him out."

Blain couldn't see a problem, and besides, he'd dealt with bandits a few days ago. It wasn't so hard; he could fit in quite well. He wondered how the man Orpheus was doing, it had been a while since he had seen him at the Guild, and it seemed as if no-one had.

After a few minutes of talk and planning they were ready. They realised that they hadn't introduced each other and after a quick exchange of names they made their way back down to the doors and out into the pine woods of Knothole. They took a small path through the woods to the left, up a hill and down to a small waterfall that crashed not far away. If it wasn't for the threat of bandits around it would have been something Briar would have sat and watched for hours. Faustus made a point of stopping and listening for sounds at odd moments, before carrying on gesturing for them to follow.

Blain held back and pulled Briar close so he could whisper. "This guy seems to know what he's doing" It was odd to find a guard that had more experience, after all many didn't last long.

Briar looked to Faustus before whispering back. "He was sent here by the Guild. After the incident in the Bowerstone prison he was re-assigned to Knothole, for more than one reason. The Guildmaster hasn't told me more" She looked back to Faustus picking his way through the large bushes and around trees.

Faustus ahead of them ignored the whispers. He knew they didn't think he could hear, and he would keep it that way. He was used to whispering surrounding him, after all with a position at the Chief's side it was not uncommon for rumours to spread of just how interwoven with their family he was. He shook the thoughts from his mind and moved to the ridge of a small hillock. He crouched low and waved back for Briar and Blain to do the same. He slowly made his way low so he could see down on the other side, just as he suspected.

Briar and Blain followed and crouched on either side of Faustus, looking down at the small clearing. Briar turned to Faustus. "Is it usual for them to have only one guard?" She said, this seemed strange.

Faustus kept his eyes on the bandit watchman. "It is, after all they don't think they need more than that this deep in the woods. Also, this area doesn't suit the Balverines of the area, so they are safe from them too." He tried to think of how he was going to approach this situation, he was glad he wasn't wearing his guard uniform that was for sure.

Blain was too much in shock, he had forgotten about Balverines. He checked his sword by his side, thank Avo it was there. It gave him a sense of security, and yet he still thought and imagined they were being watched, he was being too paranoid. He turned to Faustus. "Do you want me to scout around to the right?"

Faustus nodded "You'll know if it hasn't worked and you need to deal with the leader, you can see us from the ridges around the campsite." He pointed to a line of trees that circled the camp clearing.

Blain understood and took his crossbow from his back. He waited for a second to see if the bandit ahead of him was looking before ducking away and moving off towards the right hand ridge. He took a position behind a fallen tree and rested his crossbow on the log. He began to scan the camp, looking for the tell tale poles and headgear of a captain.

Meanwhile, Faustus and Briar stood confidently and moved down the hill towards the watchman. The bandit froze for a second and looked around to see if anyone was with them before hollering at them.

"What you doin' here?" He shouted and pointed his sword at the two of them. His shouts alerted the bandits back in the camp behind him, and they all started to move towards the small mock entrance.

Faustus strode forwards ahead of Briar and showed he wasn't going to go for his weapon. "We request that you move from this land at once, by decree of the Chieftain of Knothole." He didn't think it would work, but it was worth a try. He looked back at Briar; she had a look of disbelief on her face.

The bandits laughed. "That fat pig, what's he gonna do to us!" They chuckled and drew their blades. "I think we might need to send you two back to him in a sack…see what he says then" The watchman advanced, and the bandits behind him stalked forwards.

Up on the ridge Blain could see things were going badly. He realised now why killing the leader was the best course of action. If they did that, then the ensuing power vacuum created would send the bandits into disarray and weaken them for later. It was a clever plan. He continued frantically looking for the captain once more, scanning the tents for a sign of him, and suddenly he came into view, waking from his mat and grabbing his sword, walking towards the crowd of bandits. Blain knew he had to wait; he had to shoot him when the other bandits could see him fall. And, when Briar and Faustus had moved away far enough to escape quickly.

Briar gulped, she was prepared for a fight, but she hoped that Blain knew what he was doing. She stared as the bandit captain pushed his way through the crowd and stood before them.

"What the hell are you doin waking me up so bloody early?" He said "I think we need to deal with these little morsels." He eyed Briar "And maybe gets some entertainment." A chorus of laughter echoed around them from the bandits.

It didn't last long however, up on the hill Blain squeezed the trigger of his crossbow and a flaming bolt shot towards the captain's head. Briar and Faustus started walking back faster…seeing the bandit captain's expression turn from a smile to disbelief, the bolt slammed into the side of his head. The laughter had died completely…and was replaced with deathly silence.

Faustus turned to Briar and said bluntly "Run". He turned and sprinted as fast as he could, leaping the hillock and landing heavily on the other side.

Briar turned and sprinted too, she could hear the bandits yelling behind her but she didn't want to look back, there was a thunder of boots on the earth but she ran as fast as she could dead ahead, slipping in between the trees skilfully until she found herself near the waterfall once more. She looked around, Faustus was no where to be seen. She looked back, the bandits were closing but still behind a rise she could hide. Suddenly, a hand grabbed her and pulled her down towards the water of the plunge pool. She landed on the sand with a dump and was pulled under a covering of rocks and moss. She looked round alarmed and saw the face of Faustus glaring at her, his finger over his lips telling her to be quiet.

Blain, on the other hand was having more trouble. He jumped a log as he ran and pointed his crossbow behind him; four bandits were on his tail. He let off a random bolt which slammed into one with a satisfying thud. He had no time to reload so slung it on his back. He skidded in the dirt and turned round as they closed on him. Drawing his sword he cut one of them with a skilful attack, cutting deep into the bandits arm and sending him sprawled on the floor. The second jumped and brought his blade down towards his face. He barely managed to lift his sword in time, the blades clashed and he pushed hard, sending the bandit flying back through the air. He pointed his left hand at the bandit and sent a wave of energy through the air, with a dull thud the force of the push sent the bandit slamming towards a nearby tree, his back broken with the force. But, he had relaxed too quickly, the third bandit smacked him across the head with a large and deadly club, he stumbled, his vision blurring and toppled to the floor, blood seeping into his vision.

The bandit laughed and stood over him, pulling his club back for a final blow. He had one chance, Blain stabbed up, trying to hit his target through the pain in his head. He felt the sword slide in, and the cry of pain from the bandit. He let go of the sword and collapsed, his head swam with darkness and he faded out of consciousness at once.


End file.
